In an absorbing contest that saw a dramatic change of fortunes even as counting of votes was on, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Friday bagged the Vellore Parliamentary constituency, polling for which was deferred in April, taking its tally in the Lok Sabha to 24.
The party’s nominee, D.M. Kathir Anand, who is the son of former Minister and DMK treasurer Durai Murugan, defeated his nearest rival and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) candidate A.C. Shanmugam by a slender margin of 8,141 votes.
Of a total of 10,26,055 votes polled, the DMK candidate secured 4,85,340 votes (47.3%) and the AIADMK nominee 4,77,199 votes (46.51%). The voter turnout was 71.51%.
Polling in the Vellore constituency was held on Monday (August 5) after the Election Commission rescinded it in April following seizure of cash from associates of the DMK candidate.
Unlike the results of Lok Sabha elections in the State, announced in May, when DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance candidates won by massive margins, the victory margin in Vellore was thin. In fact, this is the second narrowest victory margin in Tamil Nadu in the Lok Sabha polls this year after Chidambaram (R) constituency, where VCK founder Thol. Thirumavalavan managed to scrape through with 3,219 votes.