Vellore (Tamil Nadu): Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's (DMK) candidate DM Kathir Anand won the Vellore Lok Sabha constituency election on Friday (August 9) by defeating his arch-rival and ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in Tamil Nadu.

While the counting of the Vellore Lok Sabha constituency took place on Friday morning, the DMK’s Kathir Anand won by a  margin of 8,141 votes.

The ruling AIADMK's AC Shanmugam (chief of Puthiya Neethi Katchi, an ally of the ruling party) and MK Stalin-led DMK's Anand were the key contenders of the total 28 candidates in the fray.

The DMK secured 4,85,340 votes while AIADMK got 4,77,199.

Earlier, the AIADMK was confident that its margin over its rival would go up soon and retain the constituency. But the results of the election made the competitors think otherwise.

The poll to the Vellore Lok Sabha seat was initially scheduled to be held in April along with the other constituencies in Tamil Nadu. But the election was cancelled following tax raids and cash seizures in Vellore.

The EVMs, the control units and Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) devices were shifted to Ranipet Engineering college premises after the polls.