RK Nagar bypoll result: TTV Dinakaran officially declared winner

The result of RK Nagar by-election will be announced on Sunday. Around 77.68 per cent voters exercised their franchise in the battle for this prestigious assembly seat in Tamil Nadu.

The constituency was represented by late J. Jayalalithaa who passed away in December last year.

The by-election became a prestige battle between the two factions of AIADMK. TTV Dhinakaran, M Ganesh of DMK and E Madhusudhanan of AIADMK are main candidated in the fray for the bypoll. The bypoll campaign was marred with reports of distribution of cash for votes by different groups.

Here are the LIVE updates:

05:00 pm: TTV Dhinakaran officially declared the winner.

04:30 pm: TTV Dhinakaran continues to lead with 68392 votes, AIADMK's E. Madhusudhanan at 36217 votes, DMK's N. Marudhu Ganesh at 18924, BJP's Karu Nagarajan at 1126 votes at the end of counting round 14.

02:31 pm: TTV Dhinakaran pays floral tribute to late AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran on his 30th death anniversary at MGR memorial in Marina Beach

TTV Dhinakaran pays floral tribute to late AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran on his 30th death anniversary at MGR memorial in Marina Beach #Chennai pic.twitter.com/mcMp9jiHoH

— ANI (@ANI) December 24, 2017

02:28 pm: Official EC trends: TTV Dhinakaran continues to lead with 39548 total votes, AIADMKs E. Madhusudhanan gets 19525 votes and DMK's N. Marudhu Ganesh gets 10233 votes at the end of counting round 8

02:25 pm: Current Leads:
TTV Dinakaran (Independent): 42,050
E Madhusudhanan (AIADMK): 19,525
N Maruthu Ganesh (DMK): 10,292
Others: 6,490

01:41 pm: "The people of RK Nagar have given me a big victory. I am an independent candidate just for namesake, all party (AIADMK) workers are with me. I also have Amma (Jayalalithaa)'s wishes," says TTV Dinakaran.

01:15 pm: After the seventh round, TTV Dinakaran is leading with 30,457 votes in RK Nagar by-election, followed by AIADMK's Madhusudhanan who has 15,949 votes and DMK's Maruthu Ganesh, who has 8364 votes.

01:11 pm: Official EC trends shows TTV Dhinakaran leads with 29255 total votes, AIADMKs E. Madhusudhanan gets 15181 votes and DMK's N. Marudhu Ganesh gets 7986 votes at the end of counting round 6

12:34 pm: TTV Dinakaran has reached Chennai and will now travel straight to the Amma memorial in Marina Beach. He is leading the RK Nagar by-polls with a huge margin and is likely to win the seat.

11:11 am: Current Leads:

TTV Dinakaran (Independent): 15,868
E Madhusudhanan (AIADMK): 7,033
N Maruthu Ganesh (DMK): 3,750
Others: 2,229

10:53 am: The people of RK Nagar are reflecting the mindset of the people of Tamil Nadu. Symbol is not important, candidates are important: TTV Dinakaran

10:23 am: Clashes at counting centre again

10:22 am: Supporters of TTV Dhinakaran celebrate, burst crackers outside his residence as official trends indicate his lead

10:14 am: TTV Dinakaran is currently leading with 10391 votes in RK Nagar by-election. He is followed by AIADMK's Madhusudhanan who has 4520 votes, while DMK's Maruthu Ganesh gets 2323 votes.

10:08 am: AIADMK agents and cadres are demanding that journalists be evicted from the center as they are spreading information about the leads.

10:02 am: Chennai district Electoral Officer says "Police restored peace, nothing alarming. Compilation of second round going on"

09:49 am: A massive fight has broken out inside the Queen Mary's college, where the counting for RK Nagar by-election is taking place.

09:46 am: There are unconfirmed reports that counting officials have been attacked by AIADMK agents inside the center.

09:45 am: Supporters celebrate outside a counting center as early official EC trends indicate Dinakaran's lead

09:37 am: According to reports, counting was interrupted due to clashes between TTV Dinakaran and EPS-OPS supporters

09:27 am: Official EC trends: Early trends indicate DMK's N. Marudhu Ganesh gets 1181 votes

09:20 am: "It might seem like someone is initially leading in a race but in the end, we will win," says AIADMK candidate Madhusudhanan.

09:00 am: Official EC early trends indicate TTV Dhinakaran leading with 5339 votes, AIADMK's E. Madhusudhanan gets 2738 votes

09:08 am: First round of counting ends: TTV leads with 5399 votes

09:04 am: Current Leads:
TTV Dinakaran (Independent): 1891
E Madhusudhanan (AIADMK): 646
N Maruthu Ganesh (DMK): 360

09:02 am: Second round of counting begins

08:55 am: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edapadi K Palanisamy, Deputy CM O Panneerselvam pay tributes to late AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran at his Marina Beach memorial

#Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edapadi K Palanisamy, Deputy CM O Panneerselvam pay tributes to late AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran at his Marina Beach memorial pic.twitter.com/Q75NeOsMV0

— ANI (@ANI) December 24, 2017

08:54 am: TTV Dinakaran leading with 1,891 voters. Supporters begin celebrating outside his home.

08:30 am: EP-OPS to visit Jayalalithaa's memorial

08:28 am: The AIADMK leaders are at the MG Ramachandran memorial at Marina beach on the occasion of 30th death anniversary

#Visuals from late AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran memorial at Marina Beach in #Chennai on his 30th death anniversary. pic.twitter.com/bFFEK1pHTg

— ANI (@ANI) December 24, 2017

08:24 am: TTV Dinakaran is leading with 598 votes in RK Nagar by-election. He is followed by AIADMK's Madhusudhanan who has 243 votes, while DMK's Maruduganesh gets 120 votes.

08:04 am: Security beefed up at Queen Mary's College where counting of votes is scheduled

07:44 am: Apart from BJP other parties that contested used corrupt practices and distributed money in a big way, says Karu Nagarajan, BJP candidate from RK Nagar

7:30 am: Counting of votes will begin at 8 am. Visuals from outside a counting center in Chennai

#RKNagarByPoll: Counting of votes will begin at 8 am. Visuals from outside a counting center in #Chennai pic.twitter.com/ORKYAc9LF7

— ANI (@ANI) December 24, 2017

7:25 am: "Exit poll in RK Nagar puts TTV Dinakaran ahead with 37 % votes and winner," says BJP MP, Subramanian Swamy."

RK Nagar Election Exit Poll by NewsX has predicted TTV Dhinakaran as the clear winner. This is how much votes all parties will get:

TTV Dhinakaran - 37%
AIADMK -26%
DMK -18%
BJP - 2%
Others - 17%

Of the 59 candidates in the fray, the fight was essentially triangular with the key contenders being ruling AIADMK's E Madhusudhanan, main opposition DMK candidate N Maruthu Ganesh and TTV Dinakaran who contested as an Independent.

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