Day after Thoothukudi Lok Sabha victory, Kanimozhi pays respects at Karunanidhi memorial

CHENNAI: A day after registering a remarkable victory from Thoothukudi Lok Sabha constituency, DMK deputy general secretary Kanimozhi paid her respects to her father, late party patriarch M Karunanidhi, at his memorial on Chennai's Marina Beach.

She placed her victory certificate and flowers as a tribute. Ministers Anitha Radhakrishnan, Geetha Jeevan, and party functionaries accompanied her.

The returning officer and Collector Lakshmipathy presented the victory certificate to Kanimozhi. Besides Kanimozhi, 27 other candidates contested the polls - many of them performed so poorly that they lost deposits.

The main rivals in the fray were Sivasamy Velumani from the AIADMK, Vijayaseelan from the TMC-Moopanar (part of NDA), and Rovena Ruth Jain from the NTK.

Thoothukudi parliamentary constituency comprises six assembly constituencies namely Thoothukudi, Vilathikulam, Ottapidaram, Tiruchendur, Srivaikuntam, and Kovilpatti.

At the end of counting, Kanimozhi secured a huge victory with 5,40,729 votes. AIADMK candidate Sivasamy Velumani was at a distant second with 147,991 votes. Kanimozhi won by a margin of 3,92,738 votes, retaining the seat for a second time.