The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government in Tamil Nadu has retained power in the state by winning nine seats in the crucial bye-elections. The ruling party had 114 MLAs in the Assembly and its tally will now rise to 123, which is five more than the 118 needed for majority.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam won 13 of the 22 constituencies where bye-elections were held on April 18 and May 19. The party’s tally seat share rose from 88 to 101 in the Assembly.
The Congress, which is an ally of the DMK, already had eight members while another ally, the Indian Union Muslim League, has one MLA. TTV Dhinakaran is the lone independent MLA, according to The Hindu.
The ruling AIADMK secured a 38.2% vote share while the DMK’s vote share was 45.1%, according to the Election Commission. The strength of the House returns to 234 MLAs following the bye-elections and and the majority mark to stay in power is 118, according to The News Minute.
The DMK’s win in 13 seats is significant since 12 of the seats were won by the AIADMK in the 2016 Assembly elections, according to Deccan Herald.
Elections to 18 of the 22 seats were necessitated after the Assembly speaker had disqualified 18 MLAs of the AIADMK in September 2017 after they joined the camp of sidelined party leader TTV Dhinakaran. Bye-elections in Tiruvarur, Sulur and Thiruparankundram seats were held following the deaths of DMK chief M Karunanidhi, AIADMK legislators R Kangaraj and AK Bose, while the disqualification of former minister P Balakrishna Reddy necessitated the byepoll in Hosur.
The Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam led by TTV Dhinakaran faced a major setback in the bye-elections as the outfit did not win a single seat in the bye-elections.
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