| AIADMK
storms back to power in Tamil Nadu
New Delhi,
May 13: The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)
led by former chief minister J Jayalalitha stormed to victory in
Tamil Nadu on Sunday as the counting of votes in the Assembly elections
neared its final stages.
The AIADMK alliance
sailed past the majority of assembly seats required to rule the
state.
Jayalalitha,
who was barred from running in the election because of a corruption
conviction against her, was chief minister of the state between
1991 and 1996.
A widely popular
figure despite the string of graft cases against her, Jayalalitha
triggered the downfall of the previous Vajpayee government in 1999
by withdrawing her party from his coalition in a fit of pique.
Analysts said
it was not clear whether the former Tamil movie star would become
chief minister. If she did, she would have to be voted to a state
constituency within six months, which would again put her on a collision
course with electoral laws.
The BJP was
a marginal player in the states which went to the polls last week,
but a commentator said the vote could hold vital lessons for the
coalition.
Latest results
from the four states and one union territory which held legislative
Assembly elections on Thursday also showed a strong lead for the
Communists in West Bengal, which they have ruled for 24 years.
The polls have
been seen as a litmus test for both the BJP-led coalition government
at the Centre and the main opposition Congress party, which looked
set to win or be on the winning side in three states.
Vajpayee appeared
unruffled by the results of the poll, in which two of his government's
regional partners were facing defeat, saying they were in line with
expectations.
The BJP said
the outcome would have no impact on the 19-month-old ruling coalition.
"It was a local election, no national issue was involved,"
BJP President Jana Krishnamurthy told reporters.
The results
from West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry came
in more quickly than in past elections because of the introduction
of electronic voting machines at most polling stations. State-run
All India Radio said additional police had been deployed across
West Bengal to ward off the threat of violence between supporters
of the communist alliance and its challengers.
Four of the
10 people killed in election violence on Thursday died in West Bengal
and the rest in Assam, where separatist militants tried to disrupt
the poll.
Seven hours
into the count, West Bengal's Left had secured 90 of the state's
294 constituencies and was leading in another 104.
West Bengal's
opposition alliance, led by communist-baiter Mamata Banerjee, had
won just 30 seats and was ahead in 55. Communist supporters exploded
in joy in West Bengal as early trends indicated a sixth consecutive
win for the leftists.
Hordes of people
waved red flags and sprinkled coloured powder on each other at counting
centres in Calcutta, where in some places leftists had defied expectations
by snatching victory from Banerjee's coalition. (Reuters)
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