Jayalalithaa wins RK Nagar bypoll with a lead of 1.5 lakh votes
30 Jun 2015
Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa has won the RK Nagar bypoll by defeating her nearest rival C Mahendran of CPI by a margin of 1,50,000 votes. Others in the fray included social activist KR Ramaswamy (Traffic Ramaswamy).
The main opposition parties DMK, DMDK, Congress, BJP and PMK had boycotted the bypoll, which was necessitated after AIADMK MLA P Vetrivel vacated the seat in May to enable Jayalalithaa seek a re-election.
Jayalalithaa, who was elected chief minister following her acquittal by the Karnataka High Court in a graft case, had to get herself elected as an MLA within six months.
RK Nagar, an AIADMK stronghold, is also one of the smallest assembly constituencies in the state with 2,43,241 voters. The polling held on Friday, however, saw a record 74.4 per cent cast their votes.
With this win, Jayalalithaa has once again proved her unbeatable popularity among the masses, even after she was tainted with court cases and jail tenure.
"Nobody believes our leader is guilty of corruption. Our Amma did not do a scam," said one of Jayalalithaa's ardent supporters.