A recent development in Tamil Nadu that has been in the limelight is the Dharapuram assembly by-election where the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) is ahead of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) of actor turned politician, Vijay, after counting of votes for the third round.

The contest features Sathyabama, TVK’s contestant and a former AIADMK MLA for the same constituency prior to her defection to Vijay’s political party and K. Bhanumathi, the contestant representing AIADMK.

The by-poll came into being owing to the fact that Ms. Sathyabama had to resign as a legislator owing to her defection from AIADMK.

This poll is important for the new political outfit as they seek to assert their position politically now that they have taken over the reins of power in Tamil Nadu.

The lead of AIADMK in Dharapuram is one of the aspects that show the nature of competition in this constituency. Another reason why the counting trends attract attention is the direct rivalry of the parties that Sathyabama used to be a part of.

Also, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has its candidate in Dharapuram. Namely, S. Suganya represents this political party. In addition, there are other contenders such as those from Naam Tamilar Katchi and the Communist Party of India.

Further counting of votes will affect the current standing since further rounds of voting will provide new results. In turn, the final results will be influenced by the overall voting outcomes announced officially by the relevant authorities.

This outcome of Dharapuram has become another significant political event in Tamil Nadu. It helps to understand the attitude of the voters to the switch of parties and the standing of the ruling TVK party. Thus, the preliminary lead will stay as a developing trend until all the voting results are counted.

The official web-site of the Election Commission is the first place for checking the voting results.