DMK’s striking gains in Madras elections
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and its seven allies including the Swatantra Party and the Communist Marxists have annexed 78 seats out of 109 in the Madras Assembly for which results have been announced till 2-30 a.m.. The D.M.K. alone claiming 62. Five Ministers have been defeated and the ruling Congress Party has suffered severe losses. Mr. V. Ramaiah, Food Minister, lost to a D.M.K. rival by a margin of over 20,000 votes. Mr. N.S.S. Manradiar, Minister for Co-operation was defeated at Perundurai by S.S.P. candidate by 3,134 votes. Mr. P. Kakkan, Home Minister was defeated at Melur South by over 21,000 votes and Mrs. Jothi Venkatachellum, Health Minister, lost to a D.M.K. candidate at Egmore in Madras City by a margin of 6,900 votes. Mr. S.M.A. Majid, Minister for Local Administration lost to an Independent in Kadaiayanallur, by a narrow margin of 446 votes. Mr. S. Chellapandian, Speaker of the State Assembly, also lost his seat in Cheranmahadevi to the DMK. The ruling Congress Party suffered a significant reverse when the State Congress Chief, Mr. R. Krishnaswami Naidu, was defeated by a margin of over 20,000 votes by Mr. S. Ramaswami Naidu, a Swatantra candidate, who recently resigned from the Congress Party. The D.M.K. captured five out of the six seats in Madras City for which results were announced to-day [February 23]. The sixth seat went to the Swatantra. Mr. G. Bhuvaraghan, Information Minister, has been returned from Vridhachalam. The defeat of the State Food Minister, by the D.M.K. candidate, Mr. P. Ponnambalam who was till recently a school teacher is significant.
