All the three Assembly constituencies in the Nilgiris witnessed a close race, with only a few thousand votes separating the winning candidates from the losers.
The AIADMK’s Pon Jeyaseelan won in Gudalur by a margin of less than 2,000 votes, while the Congress’ R. Ganesh, the incumbent MLA in Udhagamandalam, won by a margin of over 5,000 votes. In Coonoor, the DMK’s K. Ramachandran won by a margin of over 4,000 votes.
Early rounds of counting had pointed to a clean sweep for the AIADMK and BJP candidates in the three Assembly constituencies in the district, with the BJP’s M. Bhojarajan, leading in Udhagamandalam, with a clear lead of over 6,000 votes till the completion of Round 8 of counting. Similarly, the AIADMK’s D. Vinoth, contesting in Coonoor, enjoyed a lead of a few thousand votes till Round 12 of counting, after which the DMK’s K. Ramachandran overhauled the early lead to emerge victorious.
The Naam Tamilar Katchi candidates also put in a strong showing in all the three constituencies, emerging as the closest rivals to the DMK, AIADMK and the BJP candidates. In Gudalur, the party’s candidate R. Ketheeswaran garnered 7,317 votes, while in Udhagamandalam and Coonoor, the party’s candidates received 6,376 and 7,252 votes respectively.
Speaking to reporters after he was declared the winner in Coonoor, K. Ramachandran of the DMK, termed the party’s performance a “victory for the people” and pledged to work for the welfare of the entire Nilgiris.
