The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : An Independent who stood to gain

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Friday, May 12, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

An Independent who stood to gain

R.K. Radhakrishnan

DMK candidate S.R. Raja who was elected from Tambaram constituency in Chennai. — Photo: M. Karunakaran

CHENNAI: At 12.58 p.m. on Thursday, T. Ramachandran, a former executive committee member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was declared elected from Thalli. He is the only Independent candidate to have won a seat in this election.

A popular union chairman in the area, Mr.Ramachandran, was sore at the decision to allot the constituency to the Communist Party of India. He quit the CPI (M) and contested as independent. "He was upset with the party but was not very angry. Even though he left the party, he is not the kind to join any of the others," said a party senior, who added that the member had to leave because he wanted to contest the seat. The loser was P.Nagaraja Reddy (CPI).

Highest margin

Another local body chief who made it big was S.R. Raja (DMK). Mr. Raja, who resigned as Tambaram Municipal chairman, just before filing nomination, trounced another local body leader, former Palavakkam panchayat president K.Somu by the largest margin in the State — 48,752 votes.

A first-timer who came out with flying colours was Lima Rose, another CPI (M) candidate, who bagged the Thiruvattaru seat with a margin of over 28,000 votes and securing 51.6 per cent of the votes polled.

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