Stalin-era begins in Tamil Nadu; DMK's ten-year wait ends

CHENNAI: Ending its decade-long stint in the opposition, even relegated to the third spot in the House in 2011, the DMK, led by M K Stalin, made a spirited comeback to the ruling saddle in Tamil Nadu to unseat its rival AIADMK.

Stalin, the 68-year old DMK president is all set to become Chief Minister for the first time, even as his son and party's youth wing chief Udhayanidhi came up trumps in his maiden electoral venture.

As the counting of votes polled in the April 6 TN Assembly election progressed on Sunday, it became amply clear that the DMK was dislodging AIADMK from the seat of power with ease.

Round after round, DMK and its allies improved their tally and the Stalin-led party together with its partners, won 158 seats in the 234-member Assembly, while 118 is the minimum number required for a simple majority.

Among the allies, Congress won 17 seats and the CPM and CPI won two each.

The Anna DMK-led National Democratic Alliance won 76 seats. Among the allies, the PMK won five seats while the BJP won four.

Actor Kamal Haasan, founder of Makkal Needhi Maiam, who had a slight lead from the beginning in Coimbatore South, lost by a narrow margin in the last round. He was defeated by BJP's Vanathi Srinivasan.

Actress Khushboo Sunder, who contested on a BJP ticket, lost in Thousand Lights. Chief Minister Edappadi Palanisamy and Deputy Chief Minister O Paneerselvam won.