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VCK Thirumavalavan wins by 3219 votes in close battle against AIADMK candidate

It was a battle that went down to the wire, with VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan eventually emerging victorious against AIADMK’s Chandrasekar in Chidambaram Lok Sabha constituency. The margin of defeat was thin, with the Dalit leader winning by 3,219 votes. The contest that was close right upto the final round, saw the battle oscillate between the VCK and the AIADMK all through the day.

The Chidambaram constituency came into the spotlight on April 18 polling day following caste violence at Ponparappi village. At least 20 houses belonging to Dalits were attacked allegedly by a mob comprising of PMK members who belonged to the Vanniyar community, a dominant caste group.

Following the violence, Thirumavalavan had sought a repoll from one of the booths, alleging that several Dalits were unable to cast their vote owing to the violence.

Though Thirumavalavan’s VCK was a part of the DMK-Congress alliance, he chose to contest under the pot symbol, while his party colleague Ravikumar, who won comfortably in Villupuram, contested on the DMK’s rising sun symbol.

While he tasted defeat for the first time from Chidambaram in the 1999 Parliamentary polls, Thirumavalavan went on to win from the seat ten years later. The VCK was then part of the UPA alliance. However, in the subsequent 2014 Parliamentary polls, Thirumavalavan ended up losing to the AIADMK by a margin of over 1 lakh votes. Thereafter, in the 2016  Assembly Elections, he unsuccessfully contested from the Kattumannarkoil Assembly constituency. That election, Thirumavalavan lost by a margin of 87 votes, with namesakes playing spoiler for the VCK chief.

The DMK alliance has won in 36 out of 38 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu that went to polls on April 18. The AIADMK alliance, meanwhile, managed to win only two seats – Chidambaram and Theni, where OP Ravindranath Kumar, son of Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam had contested from.

Source: The News Minute