Besides entire Tamil Nadu, political aficionados across the country are keenly watching as the counting of votes for the RK Nagar by-poll is currently underway at the Queen Mary College in Chennai.
TTV Dinakaran, the nephew of Sasikala, who is contesting the election as an Independent candidate, was leading with a big margin over his AIADMK and DMK rivals by the time counting was disrupted by chaos at the counting venue. Current leads – TTV Dinakaran (Independent) – 10,391, E Madhusudhanan (AIADMK) – 4,520, N Maruthu Ganesh (DMK) – 2,323 and K Nagarajan (BJP) – 66.
The by-election is primarily as a contest between Dinakaran and the merged faction of chief minister E Palaniswami and deputy CM Panneerselvam. While Dinakaran contested Independently, the EPS-OPS faction fielded Madhusudhanan. Making it a triangular contest, the DMK fielded N Maruthu Ganesh. The result will decide the political legacy of late CM Jayalalithaa, whose death necessitated the by-election.
Voting for the by-election was held on December 21, and it saw a record 77 percent turnout. The result will be declared by noon today.