In Tamil Nadu, the ruling DMK enjoyed a thumping win, in a fiercely contested Assembly byelection in Thirumangalam, which dashed the hopes of the newly-formed AIADMK-MDMK-Left alliance to the ground.

DMK’s Latha Adhiyaman defeated AIADMK’s M Muthuramalingam by an enormous margin of 39,266 votes.

Both the sides had invested a lot of stake in this closely contested election. Ms Jayalalithaa addressed 42 meetings in the constituency. This election was a major test for DMK which had lost the support of the Left and the PMK. In the wake of these events, the win came as a major morale booster for DMK.

The election had witnessed 88.89% polling, one of the highest numbers in assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Majority of villages recorded 90-92% polling.