Tiruppur (Tamil Nadu) [India], October 9 (ANI): The AIADMK took a narrow lead of five votes over Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) after the first round of counting in the Dharapuram Assembly by-election on Friday, securing 2,639 votes against TVK's 2,634, according to official figures.
AIADMK secured 2,639 votes, followed by TVK with 2,634 votes, DMK with 2,019 votes, NTK with 168 votes and CPI with 70 votes.
Dharapuram Assembly constituency by-election was held on October 6, with the process scheduled to take place in 23 rounds across 14 tables.
NTK Madurantakam Candidate Janakiraman said, "NTK will be the real change, not TVK; we have trust in the people."
A total of 22 candidates contested the by-election, including Sathyabama from Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), Sukanya from DMK, Bhanumathi from AIADMK, Lakshmanan from the Communist Party of India (CPI), and Karthika of Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK).
Polling was held at 320 polling stations across 186 locations in the constituency. Out of the 2,23,306 registered voters, 1,79,214 cast their votes, recording a turnout of 80.25 per cent.
In the previous Assembly election, Dharapuram recorded a voter turnout of 89.9 per cent. The turnout in the by-election has therefore declined by 9.65 percentage points.
The lower turnout is attributed to reduced voter interest in a by-election compared to a general election, with voters working in other districts not returning to their hometowns to vote. However, political observers point out that by-elections in Tamil Nadu generally record a turnout 5 to 10 percentage points lower than general elections.
Against this backdrop, the 80.25 per cent turnout in Dharapuram is considered relatively high compared with several previous by-elections.
The final result for the Dharapuram constituency will be declared after all 23 rounds of counting are completed and the postal ballot and EVM votes are consolidated. (ANI)
Dharapuram bypoll: AIADMK leads TVK after first round of counting
