Tamil Nadu: AIADMK wins big, leads in 30 of 39 seats

Chennai: Indicating extension of its winning run since the 2011 Assembly elections, ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu today forged ahead in 30 out of 39 Lok Sabha seats leaving way behind its arch-rival DMK, which seems to be heading for yet another electoral loss. The Jayalalithaa-led party was leading in 30 seats, while Congress and PMK were ahead in one seat each, according to official counting trends available for 32 seats at 10:30 am. [caption id=“attachment_1526937” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Tamil Nadu CM and AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa. Reuters[/caption] A friendless Congress was in the lead in Kanyakumari while DMK’s candidates, including Dayanidhi Maran (Central Chennai), A Raja (Nilgiris-SC) and TR Baalu (Thanjavur), were trailing behind their AIADMK rivals by a sizeable number of votes. Trends have been disappointing for the BJP-led alliance so far as only one of its allies, PMK, could establish early leads through former Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss in Dharmapuri constituency. BJP’s candidates, including party’ state unit president Pon. Radhakrishnan (Kanyakumari), and MDMK’s Vaiko from Virudhunagar, were way behind their AIADMK and Congress rivals. Congress leader P Chidambaram’s son Karti was trailing in his father’s bastion Sivaganga where AIADMK established a substantial lead. AIADMK’s candidates were leading in seats including Arani, Arakkonam, Coimbatore, Cuddalore, Dindigul, Kallakurichi, Madurai, Nagapattinam, Namakkal, Nilgiris (SC), Peramablur, Ramanathapuram, Salem, Tenkasi (SC), Tiruvallur, Tuticorin, Tiruchirappalli, Tirunelveli, Tiruvannamalai, Vellore and Viruthunagar where trends were available. AIADMK cadres have already plunged into a celebratory mood and were seen distributing sweets at party headquarters here. The mood in DMK camp was sombre. In Puducherry, Union Minister and Congress nominee V Narayanasamy was leading over his ruling AINRC and Opposition AIADMK rivals. PTI