HAASAN SET TO WIN ON DEBUT, DHINAKARAN TRAILS BEHIND STATE MINISTER

Actor Kamal Haasan, who is making his electoral debut from Coimbatore South, was leading with in the constituency as per the Election Commission website data at 8 pm. Meanwhile, Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam’s (AMMK) general secretary TTV Dhinakaran was trailing behind state minister Kadambur Raju.

Haasan was ahead with total 41,349 votes followed by Bharatiya Janata Party’s Vanathi Srinivasan (40,370) and Congress’s Mayura Jayakumar (37,347).

Coimbatore South is the only seat where Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), which the actor floated ahead of the assembly elections, was leading.

Haasan chose Coimbatore South, an urban constituency and a hub of commercial activities, even as he was expected to contest from Chennai.

The MNA is believed to have a better organisational structure in the constituency. Haasan’s aide and MNM vicepresident R Mahendran came third in the 2019 parliamentary elections as he contested from Coimbatore. The party got 16% votes in the Coimbatore Couth segment.

Meanwhile, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)’S Kadambur Raju was leading against TTV Dhinakaran, the leader of the breakaway faction of his party, in Tamil Nadu’s Kovilpatti constituency. Raju was ahead with 32,197 votes as per the EC data at 8 pm while Dhinakaran’s tally stood at 26,648.

TTV Dhinakaran formed Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) after he was expelled from AIADMK along with his aunt, V K Sasikala.

Kovilpatti has been under the spotlight since Dhinakaran chose the constituency over Chennai’s RK Nagar seat, which he won as an independent following AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa’s death in 2016.

Caste plays a factor in the constituency, where Raju and Srinivasan belong to the Naicker community. Dhinakaran has the support of the Mukkulathors, a sub-caste of the Thevar community.