Chennai: Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa on Tuesday swept the R K Nagar bypoll creating a new record winning margin of 1.51 lakh votes. The AIADMK supremo secured 88 per cent of total votes polled while all the other 27 candidates forfeited their deposits. The CPI candidate C. Mahendran finished a distant second recording 9,710 votes followed by independent Traffic Ramasamy with 4,590 votes.
J. Jayalalithaa set a record for polling the highest percentage of votes by a candidate. Election officials said Jayalalithaa secured 88.44 per cent leaving just over 10 per cent of the votes for the other 27 candidates to share among them. According to AIADMK headquarters’ sources it is also the highest victory margin for a political party leader in Tamil Nadu in the history of bypolls.
Expressing her heartfelt thanks to voters of R K Nagar constituency for reposing faith in her, Jayalalithaa in a statement thanked all the electors for the strong mandate.
Meanwhile, CEO, Sandeep Saxena, told reporters that all efforts were made to ensure a free and fair poll in R K Nagar. He said measures like hidden cameras and E Netra helped the polling process to be smooth and free from untoward incidents. There were some complaints from independent candidates and such complaints will be addressed after inquiries, the CEO added.
