Live Ramanathapuram Election Results 2024: OPS Vs Navas Kani Vs P Jayaperumal

The counting of votes polled in the April 19 Lok Sabha elections to 39 constituencies in Tamil Nadu began at 8 AM across the state on Tuesday. Counting began amid a heavy police security in all of the 39 counting centres. Postal ballots were taken up first.

As many as 950 candidates are in the fray in the 39 Lok Sabha segments in the state, which had a voter turnout of 69.72 per cent in the April 19 single-phase election in Tamil Nadu.

Expelled AIADMK leader and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, O Panneerselvam (OPS), is seeking a political comeback by contesting from the Ramanathapuram Lok Sabha constituency.

The race is a three-way contest between IUML candidate Navas Kani (44), the incumbent MP backed by the DMK alliance; O Panneerselvam (74), representing the BJP-led NDA alliance as an Independent; and AIADMK's P Jayaperumal (62), the party's district presidium chairman.

Navas Kani is aiming for his second consecutive win, while the NDA alliance hopes to challenge him by fielding the veteran leader.

The ousted AIADMK leader is running as an independent candidate endorsed by the NDA, using the jackfruit symbol. Among the 21 candidates vying for the Ramanathapuram seat, there are four independents named O Panneerselvam.

The Ramanathapuram constituency comprises six assembly segments, four of which are in Ramanathapuram district - Ramanathapuram, Paramakudi, Mudukulathur, and Thiruvadanai - while Aranthangi and Thiruchuli are from Pudukkottai and Virudhunagar districts, respectively.

From the 1950s to the early 1990s, the constituency was predominantly held by the Indian National Congress, which emerged victorious here on six occasions. Following this, the AIADMK claimed victory four times, while the DMK secured the seat thrice. Other parties such as TMC, Forward Block Party, and IUML have each celebrated a single victory in the region.

In the 2019 elections, Navas got 4,69,943 votes, securing a significant margin of over 1.2 lakh votes ahead of the BJP candidate Nainar Nagendran, who garnered 3,42,821 votes. The BJP party secured approximately 16% to 17% of the votes in both the 2009 and 2014 parliamentary elections.