Jayalalithaa set to return to assembly
Chennai, June 30: AIADMK General Secretary and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa on Tuesday was all set to return to the state assembly as she surged towards a massive victory in the Radhakrishnan Nagar by-election. Counting of votes began at 8 a.m. on Tuesday here. At the end of 10 rounds, Jayalalithaa had got 98,519 votes while her nearest rival, the Communist Party of India's (CPI) C.Mahendran, had secured a mere 6,269 votes. Social activist K.R.Ramaswamy popularly known as "Traffic Ramaswamy" got 2,939 votes. Jayalalithaa built a sizeable lead over her rivals at the end of first round of counting itself. The lead then went on increasing. It was celebration time at AIADMK's headquarters here and also outside Jayalalithaa's residence. Party leaders and cadres in large numbers assembled at the AIADMK headquarters. Incidentally, the victory is a record of sorts as Jayalalithaa has polled more than 85,000 votes.