Chennai, Feb. 8 -- In a one-horse race, the ruling DMK candidate
V C Chandrakumar won the Erode East Assembly constituency
seat by a thumping margin of over 90,000 votes, as the counting of
votes polled in the February 5 by-elections, was taken up on Saturday.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) official announced this evening
that at the end of the 20th and final round of counting, Chandrakumar
secured 1,15,709 votes over his only political rival Ms M K Seethalakshmi
of Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), who secured 24,151 votes and forfeited
her deposit, finishing a distant second.
Mr Chandrakumar was declared winner by a margin of 91,558 votes.
In all 46 candidates contested in the bypoll, the second in this constituency
in two yea...