RK Nagar bypoll: Dhinakaran continues to lead in second round

Sidelined AIADMK leader and independent candidate T T V Dhinakaran continued to lead in the second round of counting of votes in the R K Nagar bypoll.

As per the Election Commission, Dhinakaran is leading with 5082 votes, followed by AIADMK's E Madhusudhanan (1783), and DMK's N Marudhu Ganesh (1142) in the third.

The first round of counting registered a similar trend, with Dhinakaran leading the race followed by AIADMK and DMK.

The counting was halted for about 15 minutes after a clash erupted between supporters of AIADMK and Dhinakaran outside Queen Mary's college.

Dhinakaran, who lost the AIADMK symbol to the EPS-OPS faction, chose to contest the election as an independent candidate and was allotted a 'pressure cooker' symbol for the same.

Key candidates in the fray are E Madhusudhanan from AIADMK, sidelined AIADMK leader T T V Dhinakaran, who is contesting as an independent, N Maruthu Ganesh from DMK, and Karu Nagarajan from BJP.

The RK Nagar constituency went to polls on December 21, necessitated by the death of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa in December last year.

The election is speculated to be a litmus test for the leadership of O Panneerselvam and K Palaniswami who took over the reins of AIADMK after her.

The election was earlier scheduled on April 12 but was cancelled following vote-for-cash scam.