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DMK wins two seats in TN

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has won two of the three Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu for which results were declared till this afternoon while the third seat, Madurai, went to the Communist Party of India-Marxist, supported by the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

While DMK candidate T R Balu won from Madras South, the Bharatiya Janata Party took the Coimbatore seat. CPI-M candidate R Mohan was declared elected from Madurai. He trounced Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy, who represented the constituency in the dissolved Lok Sabha. Dr Swamy came a poor fourth, losing his deposit in the bargain. The Janata Party president had played a key role in toppling the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

The result in Madras Central is yet to be officially declared, but former Union minister and DMK ideologue Murasoli Maran has established an unassailable lead of more than 180,000 votes.

Former Union finance minister and Tamil Maanila Congress leader P Chidambaram, who is seeking re-election for the fifth time in a row, was trailing behind the Congress and BJP candidates in his home constituency of Sivaganga.

According to initial reports, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance was leading in a majority of the constituencies in the state, while the AIADMK had established early leads in seven.

Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Vaiko (Sivakasi), Union Power Minister Rangarajan Kumaramangalam (Tiruchirapalli), AIADMK candidate T T V Dinakaran (Periakulam), MGR Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary S Thirunavukkarasu (Pudukkottai) and BJP leader Pon Radhakrishann (Nagercoil) were among the prominent candidates leading in their constituencies.

UNI

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