The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and its ally, the Congress, have won the by-elections to five Assembly constituencies.
While the DMK bagged Bargur, Cumbum and Ilayangudi, the Congress won Srivaikuntam and Thondamuthur in the elections held on August 18.
The by-elections to three constituencies were caused by resignations on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections: R.S.Rajakannappan (Ilayangudi), M. Kannappan (Thondamuthur), and N. Ramakrishnan (Cumbum). The Bargur seat fell vacant after M. Thambidurai of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam resigned following his election to the Karur Lok Sabha seat in May. In the case of Srivaikuntam, the vacancy arose after D. Selvaraj of the Congress, who was elected in 2006, died early last month.
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The principal opposition party, the AIADMK, and its allies, Pattali Makkal Katchi and the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, boycotted the by-elections.
In Bargur, K.R. K. Narasimhan of the DMK won by a margin of 59,103 votes, defeating his nearest rival, V. Chandran, an Independent supported by the DMDK. While Mr. Narasimhan secured 89,481 votes, Mr. Chandran got 30,378 votes. In Cumbum, the ruling party won by a margin of 57,373 votes over the DMDK nominee R. Arun Kumar, who got 24,142 votes. DMK candidate Ramakrishnan, who, about five months ago, quit the MDMK to join the ruling party, got 81,515 votes.
In Ilayangudi, S. Mathiyarasan of the DMK defeated his nearest rival, Alagu Balakrishnan, of the DMDK by a difference of 41,456 votes. He secured 61,084 votes while Mr. Alagu Balakrishnan got 19,628 votes.
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In Srivaikuntam, the Congress candidate M.B. Sudalaiyandi was declared winner with 53,827 votes. He defeated DMDK nominee M.Soundarapandi by a margin of 31,359 votes. Mr. Soundarapandi got 22,468 votes.
In Thondamuthur, Congress nominee M.N. Kandasamy won, beating K. Thangavelu (DMDK) by a margin of 71,487 votes.