TIRUCHY: As had been expected, the results to the election in the Chidambaram Lok Sabha constituency went down to the wire, with counting going on late into the night. As of 11.30pm on Thursday, VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan was leading his opponent P Chandrasekar of the AIADMK by less than 3,000 votes.
Both candidates had already garnered more than 4.9 lakh votes each. Such a nail-biter is not new to Thirumavalavan, who lost in Kattumannarkoil by just 87 votes during the 2016 Assembly elections.
On Thursday, as counting began Chandrasekar was leading in the initial rounds before beginning to lag behind Thirumavalavan from the evening. However, as the evening passed, Chandrasekar again took the lead, leaving cadres of both parties on the edge of their seats.
Though Chandrasekar is not as popular as Thirumavalavan, the AIADMK candidate was able to give the VCK chief a tough fight due to the support of the Vanniyar-dominated PMK, an ally of the AIADMK.
The PMK went all out to defeat Thirumavalavan in the constituency which has a large Vanniyar population, campaigning on the message that his victory would lead to an increase in Dalit assertion in the region.
Voting day saw violence in Ponparappi in the Chidambaram constituency with houses of Dalits being attacked. Thirumavalavan’s demand for re-poll at that booth was rejected.