Vellore Lok Sabha election: DMK candidate Kathir Anand wins by over 8,000 votes
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate DM Kathir Anand led by over 12,000 votes against All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate AC Shanmugam by 12.10 pm as the counting of votes was under way for the Vellore Lok Sabha seat. From the votes counted so far, Kathir Anand got 2,87,906 votes and Shanmugam had got 2,75,748 votes, official data from the Election Commission showed.
The counting had started at 8 am in the premises of an engineering college in Vellore district, PTI reported. The constituency, which has 14.32 lakh registered voters, had voted on Monday with a 71.51% turnout. Twenty-eight candidates were in the fray.
Vellore was the only Lok Sabha seat left to vote after the election there was cancelled in April after allegations of money being used to influence voters. All other 542 seats of the Lower House of Parliament were filled in the elections held in April and May, and the new House completed its first session this week.
The Vellore seat was held by the AIADMK in the 16th Lok Sabha.
Counting is taking place in a tight security environment with 70 CCTV cameras deployed in the premises of Ranipet engineering college. Results will be declared after votes recorded in five Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail devices are verified in each...