DMK front set to sweep power; Jaya in Raj Bhavan

Chennai, May 11: Riding on a clear anti-incumbency wave, the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA) is set to sweep to power in Tamil Nadu, even as counting of votes polled in the May eight assembly elections was progressing.

The alliance established an impressive lead winning 82 of 103 seats, for which results were declared till 1400 hrs. The ruling AIADMK was trailing way behind, securing only 20 seats so far.

Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had proceeded to Raj Bhavan.

The fledgling Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMK), in its electoral debut run to the assembly, registered its first victory with party president and actor Vijayakanth being returned from Vridachalam assembly constituency.

Prominent among the winners are Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, her arch political rival and DMK President M Karunanidhi, Ministers O Panneerselvam, D Jayakumar, R Viswanathan, Pollachi Jayaraman, C V Shanmugam, K Pandurangan, DMK General Secretary K Anbazhagan, Treasurer Arcot N Veerasamy, Deputy General Secretary M K Stalin and DMK leader Duraimurugan.

Thalaivai Sundaram, Nainar Nagenthiran, Vijayalakshmi Palanisamy, V Somasundram, A Miller, M Radhakrishnan and S Ramachandran are among Ms Jayalalithaa's Cabinet colleagues who lost the race.

Ms Jayalalithaa, seeking election for the fourth time, won from Andipatti with an impressive margin of 25,196 votes, defeating her nearest DMK rival P Seeman. Mr Karunanidhi, the DMK octogenarian, scored a hatrick, by retaining his Chepauk consitutency for the third consecutive time. He also holds the record for winning all the elections he contested since the party entered electoral politics in 1957.

Those who lost included DMK's star campaigner and actor Napoleon, who was defeated by his fellow actor S Vee Sekar in Mylapore in the city. Mr Karunanidhi's walking partner M Naganathan lost to Jayalalithaa's classmate Bader Sayeed in Triplicane. Former DMK Ministers Rehman Khan, Sarguna Pandian, DMK south Chennai leader J Anbazhagan also proved unlucky in the race.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which contested as many as 182 seats alone, has drawn a blank so far.

Of the 82 seats won by the DPA, the DMK bagged 52, followed by its allies, Congress 13, Pattali Makkal Katchi 7, CPI(M) and CPI five each. In the rival front, the AIADMK won 18 seats, while its ally Marumalarchi DMK (MDMK) led by Mr Vaiko picked up two.

UNI