TTV Dhinakaran claims victory in RK Nagar

Sidelined AIADMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran on Sunday claimed victory in the R.K. Nagar by-election and said he was former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s “true successor.”

Meeting reporters at Madurai airport, Mr. Dhinakaran thanked the people of R.K. Nagar for their votes and support. “It doesn’t matter who has the party's name and symbol, because today it has been shown that we are the true AIADMK. It matters who the people and party workers have sided with.”

Mr. Dhinakaran also thanked “1.5 crore” party workers who facilitated his victory and claimed that the AIADMK will lose its ruling party status in three months time.

After two rounds of counting, Mr. Dhinakaran leads with 10,421 votes, trailed by the AIADMK’s E. Madhusudhanan, who has won 4,521 votes and the DMK’s Marudhuganesh, who won 2,234 votes. The R.K. Nagar bypoll was necessitated by the death of Jayalalithaa in 2016.