DMK bags both seats in TN bypolls

Dealing yet another blow to arch rival AIADMK, ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday won the Vandavasi and Tiruchendur Assembly seats which went to by-polls on December 19.

Dealing yet another blow to arch rival AIADMK, ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday won the Vandavasi and Tiruchendur Assembly seats which went to by-polls on December 19.

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In the bitterly fought polls, DMK's Anitha R Radhakrishnan trounced AIADMK's T Narayanan by an impressive margin of over 46,000 votes in Tiruchendur, while his colleague Kamalakannan romped home in Vandavasi by over 38,000 votes against AIADMK's Munusami.

DMK has retained Vandavasi and wrested the Tiruchendur seat from AIADMK. Radhakrishnan, who had represented Tiruchendur as AIADMK MLA, had crossed over to DMK after resigning the seat, necessitating the bye-election.

DMK's triumph marks a complete success for the party this year which it started on a winning note, humbling AIADMK in the Tirumangalam by-polls, followed by an impressive performance in the May Lok Sabha polls and bagging five seats with its ally Congress in the August bye-elections.

In Lok Sabha elections, the DMK-led alliance had won 28 of the 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, dashing high hopes of the AIADMK-front.

Elated over today's victory, DMK president and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi said, "People voted for our party due to our government's achievements and the importance we accord in solving their problems."