CPM nominee in Vilavancode wins seat with unique distinction

Chennai, May 14 (UNI) CPI(M) nominee from Vilavancode in Kanniyakumari district, G John Joseph has made a grand debut to the Tamil Nadu Assembly as all his rivals had to forfeit their deposits.

Even the AIADMK candidate could not retain the deposit, despite coming second in this CPI(M) bastion, which was initially a pocketborough of the Congress. Mr Franklin of AIADMK could secure only 19,458 votes.

Of the 1,20,076 votes polled, Mr Joseph secured 64,532 votes and romped home with a massive margin of 45,074 votes, the second highest in the state, after Mr S R Raja of the DMK, who mauled the MDMK candidate K Somu, by a margin of 48,752 votes in Tambaram.

Nationalist Congress Party nominee Pon Vijaya Raghavan secured the third place, pushing behind BJP candidate Devadhas.

While Mr Raghavan, riding on the popularity of his father, a veteran Congress leader Ponnappa Nadar secured 13,434 votes, the BJP nominee got 12,553 votes.

Actor Vijayakanth's Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), which made an impressive peformance in its maiden elections, managed to secure 7,309 votes.

Vilavancode, in the southermost part of the state, was traditionally a Congress bastion as the party had won four elections in a row from 1957. It was in the 1977 elections that the CPI(M) wrested the seat from the Congress. It retained the seat in the 1980 elections, but lost it to the Janata Party in 1984 and again to the Congress in 1989 and 1991 elections. It, however, wrested the seat from the Congress in the 2001 elections. The CPI(M) had won inthe 2001 dection as well.

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