P. Sathyabama elected in Dharapuram, trumps DMK rival by 9,471 votes

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

TVK Dharapuram candidate P. Sathyabama receiving the winning certificate in Tiruppur on Friday. | Photo Credit: S. SIVA SARAVANAN

From fighting a neck-to-neck battle in the initial rounds in Dharapuram (R), the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) candidate P. Sathyabama went on to establish decent leads and romped home by a margin of 9,471 votes, defeating her immediate rival S. Suganya of the DMK in the bypoll on Friday. Interestingly, at one point, the AIADMK candidate K. Banumathi had secured a slender lead and emerged as the frontrunner. However, she slipped in subsequent rounds.

The vacancy was caused by the resignation of Ms. Sathyabama, who had resigned her Assembly membership after winning on an AIADMK ticket in May and joined the TVK.

As counting of votes began in the morning, Ms. Banumathi, after the very first round, took a a slender lead of five votes over Ms. Sathyabama by polling 2,639 votes. The AIADMK candidate maintained the leading position by a margin of 592 votes in the second round, 810 in the third round, and 958 votes in the fourth round. In the fifth round, the TVK candidate turned the tables by establishing lead of 724 votes, and gradually consolidated the lead there on. In the 11 th round, the DMK candidate came second and held on to the spot.

At the end of the 23 rd and final round of counting, Ms. Sathyabama polled 66,841 votes, followed by 57,370 by DMK candidate S. Suganya, and 45,280 by AIADMK candidate Ms. Banumathi. Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) candidate M. Karthika who polled 5,268, CPI candidate P. Lakshmanan, and the other contestants lost their deposit.

The counting, which began at 8.30 a.m., wrapped up a little after 4 p.m. More than 200 employees of government departments were deployed for counting of votes. Out of 1,331 postal ballots, the DMK candidate had the largest share of 613 votes, followed by 406 votes by the AIADMK candidate, and 255 votes by the TVK candidate.

The verdict has proven that the people are in favour of the TVK-led government, and they had dismissed “false propaganda” of the opposition about her, Ms. Satyabhama told mediapersons after receiving the certificate from Returning Officer and Revenue Divisional Officer of Dharapuram Division Felix Raja.

Questioning the newly-elected MLA’s contention, the NTK candidate charged that the ruling party had used money power to win the election, and that there was no level playing field. The AIADMK candidate said she accepted the people’s verdict.

State Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management K.A. Sengotaiyan said the triumph of the TVK candidate in the bypoll, four months after the party was in the third position, was of high significance.