TIRUCHY: Scenes from the Tamil film Mandela played out at a village in Tiruchy district on Tuesday, after a candidate contesting for the post of village panchayat president secured victory by a single vote.
R Kadalmani (35), a native of Sirumaruthur village, was contesting for the seat, which fell vacant after the death of former president Ramesh Kumar a few months ago. In the election held on October 9, Kadalmani secured 424 votes, while his competitor R Kannimalai got 423 votes.
Speaking to TNIE, Kadalmani said, “ I didn’t expect the victory to be this close and I am delighted. I lost the election for the same post in 2019. I thank all friends and relatives who helped me win.”
Incidentally, Kannimalai, who lost in the election, is the spouse of former president Ramesh Kumar. The Sirumaruthur panchayat has 1,150 voters. Out of them, 538 are men and 612 women. The election witnessed a turnout of 86 per cent, with a total of 989 out of the 1,150 turning up to exercise their franchise. The candidate who came third, M Sathyanantham, secured 137 votes. Five votes out of the 1,150 registered were declared invalid.