rediff.com
rediff.com
News
      HOME | NEWS | REPORT
May 10, 2001

NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
THE STATES
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES
SEARCH REDIFF





 Search the Internet
         Tips
E-Mail this report to a friend
Print this page

Karunanidhi, Jaya hopeful of victory

N Sathiya Moorthy in Madras

There was no question of the day's polling leading to a hung assembly for the first time in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister and ruling DMK supremo M Karunanidhi said.

"It is in the imagination of some people in some quarters," he told newsmen after casting his vote in the Gopalapuram residential locality in the Thousand Lights constituency in Madras city, from where his mayoral son, M K Stalin, is seeking re-election. "The DMK front will get a majority," he added.

"This is my last election as a candidate," he iterated, adding, "I have never felt nervous in my life, for me to feel nervous this time."

Karunanidhi is seeking re-election from Chepauk constituency in the city, his tenth outing in the assembly polls, all of them successful at that.

"It is for the Election Commission to decide," Karunanidhi said, referring to earlier charges of AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha that electronic voting machines could be tampered with.

Talking to newsmen earlier in the day, after casting her vote in the company of her live-in confidante Sasikala, Jayalalitha referred to complaints of non-functional voting machines, reported from some parts of the city.

"I stand by our allegation in this regard," she said, wondering, how the loss of time taken in repairing or replacing the machines, would be made up. She also expressed the hope that the AIADMK would capture power.

Simultaneously, AIADMK propaganda secretary O S Manian, MP, wrote to Director-General of Police R Rajagopalan, seeking adequate precautions against bogus voting, and alleging possible tampering of votes by groups opposed to the party-led Secular Front.

"There are prospects of the AIADMK-led alliance winning the elections," TMC founder G K Moopanar said, after casting his vote in the Mylapore constituency in the city. However, he would not hazard a guess on the number of seats that it would win. He alleged irregularities in polling, and said that there were no hurdles to Jayalalitha becoming chief minister, despite her disqualification from contesting elections.

You may also want to see
55 per cent polling in violence-free TN elections
55-70 per cent polling in assembly elections

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report

NEWS | MONEY | SPORTS | MOVIES | CHAT | CRICKET | SEARCH | RAIL/AIR | NEWSLINKS
ASTROLOGY | BROADBAND | CONTESTS | E-CARDS | ROMANCE | WOMEN | WEDDING
SHOPPING | BOOKS | MUSIC | PERSONAL HOMEPAGES | FREE EMAIL| MESSENGER | FEEDBACK