It was a personal triumph for DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi's elder son M K Azhagiri, who worked vigorously to ensure the win of the Congress nominee K S K Rajendran.
MADURAI: The ruling DMK on Friday demonstrated its electoral supremacy over arch rival AIADMK, when the Congress nominee, backed by it, wrested the Madurai West Assembly seat by a huge margin of over 31,000 votes.
The DMK, which found itself on the backfoot amid widespread criticism following the attack on the Maran brothers-owned Dinakaran office here in which three persons lost their lives, went all out to win the seat for its DPA ally, the Congress.
It was a personal triumph for DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi's elder son M K Azhagiri, who worked vigorously to ensure the win of the Congress nominee K S K Rajendran.
Business tycoon and owner of the SUN TV network Kalanidhi Maran had blamed Azhagiri for the attack on the Dinakaran office.
The AIADMK also went all out to retain the seat, which was once represented by its founder, late M G Ramachandran, in the state assembly.
Both Karunanidhi and his bete noire in state politics, Jayalalithaa campaigned for their candidates but ultimately Union Minister Vasan-loyalist K S K Rajendran scored a resounding victory over AIADMK's Sellur K Raju.
The bypoll, necessitated by the death of AIADMK MLA S V Shanmugam, generated a lot of heat during the campaigning following complaints of corrupt electoral practices and apprehensions of violence.
The Election Commission, sensing trouble, ordered the transfer of the District Collector, City Police Commissioner and Revenue Divisional Officer of the district and even said it would consider postponing or cancelling the polls, if the situation did not improve.
Jayalalithaa, during her campaign, accused the DMK government of being responsible for the 'deteriorating law and order' in the state and said it was a 'do or die battle' for the AIADMK.
Karunanidhi had refuted the allegation and said the bypoll was a referendum on DMK government's one-year rule.
Despite his hectic schedule at New Delhi on selecting the UPA nominee for the presidential polls, Karunanidhi set apart a day for the campaign in the bye-elections, while Jayalalithaa cancelled her scheduled trip to New Delhi to prevail upon President A P J Abdul Kalam to run for a second term.
Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam, floated by actor Vijaykant also put up a creditable show in the polls, when its nominee Sivamuthukumaran finished third with 21,272 votes against 29,818 voted polled by Sellur K Raju. Rajendran polled 60,933 votes.
With this win, the Congress has increased its strength in the state assembly from 34 to 35.
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