RK Nagar bypoll: Dhinakaran predicts AIADMK-led Tamil Nadu govt's fall in three months

Chennai: The ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu on Sunday suffered a major setback with rival faction candidate TTV Dhinakaran winning the prestigious RK Nagar Assembly bypoll.

Dhinakaran, the nephew of jailed leader VK Sasikala, defeated his nearest rival E Madhusudhanan of the AIADMK by 40,707 votes, election officials said. Polling for the seat was held on December 21.

Speaking to reporters at the Madurai airport, earlier in the day, he predicted that the state government headed by Chief Minister K Palaniswami will fall in three months time.

Dinakaran said the people in RK Nagar have reflected the views of the Tamil Nadu's populace. He added that though he was an independent candidate, AIADMK's party cadres were with him.

The bypoll in the Assembly constituency was necessitated following the death of Jayalalithaa in December last. The late Tamil Nadu CM was elected from the Radhakrishnan Nagar seat in north Chennai.

Dhinakaran surpassed the record of Jayalalithaa, who had won by a margin of 39,545 votes in the 2016 Assembly polls. While he polled 89,013 votes, Madhusudhanan secured 48,306. DMK's N Maruthu Ganesh came a distant third with 24,651 and lost his deposit, as also 57 others, including the BJP nominee.

He contested as an independent on the pressure cooker symbol after the Election Commission allotted the 'two leaves' symbol to the factions led by K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam.

The two factions had merged in August this year after deposing Dhinakaran and Sasikala, who is serving a four-year jail term in a Bengaluru prison in a corruption case.

Meanwhile, leaders of several parties have termed Dinakaran's victory as the victory of cash play.

DMK leader MK Stalin, in a statement, said the party's defeat in the bypoll is actually an Himalayan defeat for the Election Commission, claiming it or police did not do anything to ensure that the poll was held in a free and fair manner.

He said the Election Commission remained silent when voters were bribed even when the polling was under progress.

(With IANS and PTI inputs)