All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Jayalalithaa will meet Governor Surjit Singh Barnala on Sunday to stake her claim to form the next government in Tamil Nadu.
“I'm meeting the Governor tomorrow. The venue, date and time of the swearing-in ceremony will be announced,” she told journalists at her Poes Garden residence here on Saturday. AIADMK MLAs are meeting on Sunday morning at which Ms. Jayalalithaa is expected to be elected leader of the legislature party. Thereafter, she will call on the Governor. Officials said the swearing-in ceremony is likely to be on Monday at the University of Madras Centenary auditorium.
In a brief interaction with the media, Ms. Jayalalithaa said: “The people of Tamil Nadu have reposed enormous trust and confidence and faith in us. We will live up to those expectations by fulfilling all promises we have made.” To her, it [the election verdict] was not just a negative vote against the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) but a hundred per cent decisive mandate in her party's favour. “People have seen my good administration between 2001 and 2006. They want to return to those good old days,” she said.
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Later, Ms. Jayalalithaa garlanded the statues of the party founder, M.G. Ramachandran, at the party headquarters at Royapettah and on Anna Salai in the city. She also garlanded the statue of the DMK founder, C.N. Annadurai, on Anna Salai. She paid her respects to the two Dravidian stalwarts at their memorials on the Marina.
The process of declaration of the results of the Assembly elections was over on Saturday morning with the announcement of the verdict in the Tirupattur Assembly constituency in Sivaganga district where Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister K.R. Periyakaruppan defeated AIADMK nominee R.S. Raja Kannappan by a margin of 1,584 votes.
Earlier, the authorities announced the result of the Villivakkam constituency in Chennai where AIADMK candidate J.C.D. Prabhakar beat Finance Minister and DMK general secretary K. Anbazhagan by a margin of 10,782 votes. Mr. Prabhakar, who was last elected from the same constituency in the 1980 election, secured 68,612 votes and Mr. Anbazhagan, 57,830 votes.
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As per the final party position, the AIADMK-led front has 203 seats and the DMK-led front, 31 seats.
The AIADMK won 150 constituencies, while among its allies, the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam netted 29 seats; the Communist Party of India (Marxist) – 10; the CPI – 9; the Puthiya Tamizhagam and Manithaneya Makkal Katchi – two each; and the All-India Forward Bloc – one constituency. The AIADMK tally included two constituencies won by the All-India Samuthuva Makkal Katchi and one each by the Kongu Illaignar Peravai and the Republican Party of India, as these parties fielded their candidates on the symbol of the AIADMK.
In the DMK-led front, the DMK won 23, the Congress five, and the Pattali Makkal Katchi three.
Meanwhile, Congress president Sonia Gandhi spoke to Ms. Jayalalithaa over the phone on Saturday and greeted her on the party's resounding victory in the elections.