 
DMDK candidate stood third with 21,272 votes.
Twenty-five others lost their deposit
JUBILATION: Congress candidate K.S.K. Rajendran (right), who won the Madurai West Assembly constituency byelection being greeted by M.K. Azhagiri, elder son of Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, in Madurai on Friday.
The Congress wrested the Madurai West Assembly constituency in the byelection with its candidate K.S.K. Rajendran defeating his nearest rival, ‘Sellur’ K. Raju of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, by a margin of 31,115 votes. The strength of the Congress in the Assembly will now become 35.
Counting of votes for the June 26 byelection began on Friday amid tight security on the Madurai Medical College premises at 8 a.m. At the end of the 16th round, Mr. Rajendran polled 60,933 votes, emerging way ahead of Mr. Raju who bagged 29,818 votes. Desiya Murpoku Dravida Kazhagam candidate D. Sivamuthukumaran stood third with 21,272 votes. Twenty-five others, including Bharatiya Janata Party candidate C. Sasiraman and 22 Independents, lost their deposit.
Of the 249 postal ballots, the Congress candidate polled 173 while the AIADMK and DMDK got 32 and 25 votes respectively. Fifteen votes were declared invalid. The three Poll Observers, District Election Officer and Returning Officer supervised the counting process in the presence of all candidates and their agents.
Minutes after the results were declared around noon, M.K. Azhagiri, elder son of Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, drove to the counting centre to greet Mr. Rajendran. There was jubilation as scores of Dravida Munnetra Kazagam and Congress cadres burst crackers, raised slogans and distributed sweets. The byelection was necessitated following the death of the AIADMK MLA, S.V. Shanmugam, who defeated Congress candidate N. Perumal by a margin of 3,467 votes in the 2006 election.
Shot in the arm
The success of the Congress is seen as a shot in the arm for the Democratic Progressive Alliance, particularly the DMK and its local strongman, Mr. Azhagiri. The run-up to the byelection witnessed many violent incidents and allegations of distribution of money to voters.
At one stage, the Election Commission even warned of postponing the byelection. Chief Electoral Officer Naresh Gupta had to camp in Madurai to oversee polling that went off peacefully. Source:Hindu
