PUDUCHERRY: Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanaswamy defeated his nearest rival Om Sakthi Sekhar of AIADMK by a margin of 11,144 votes in Nellithope byelection in Union territory of Puducherry, paving the way for his continuance as Chief Minister.
Narayanaswamy , a non-elected member, who became the chief minister on June 6 was required to be elected as MLA within six months for continuance as chief minister.
Narayanaswamy secured 18,709 votes to Om Sakthi Sekhar's 7565 votes, out of a total of 26564 votes polled.
As the counting began Narayanaswamy established his lead which he consolidated in the next rounds to register the comprehensive win.
However, Narayanaswamy's margin of victory is lower than the previous margin of victory of 12,141 votes secured by Congress candidate A John Kumar over Om Sakthi Sekar of AIADMK in May 2016 Assembly elections.
Om Sakthi secured 6365 votes, which was lower than 7565 secured in the by-election.