Puducherry, May 24 (UNI) Congress candidate V Vaithilingam on Friday declared elected from Puducherry Lok Sabha constituency by defeating his nearest N R Congress rival K Narayanasamy by a margin of 1,97,025 votes.
With this, Congress wrest the seat from N R Congress.
When the counting came to a close in the early hours, Vaithilingam secured 4,44,981 votes while,Narayanasamy polled 2,47,956 votes.
Makkal Neethi Mayyam candidate Dr M A S Subramanian got 38,068 and Naam Tamizhar party candidate Sharmila Begum polled 22,857. Other 14 candidates lost their security deposit.
NOTA polled 12199 votes.
Vaithilingam (69), the son of a former chief minister, was the speaker of the territorial assembly. He resigned from his post and contested the Lok Sabha elections.
In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, R Radhakrishnan of the N R Congress defeated the present chief minister V Narayanasamy by a margin of 60,854 votes.
UNI PAB TV 0640