<div><div>In a consolation win of sorts for Congress, which faced defeats in Assam and Kerala, the party in alliance with DMK today stormed to power in this tiny union territory, securing a simple majority of 17 in the 30-member assembly.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Congress avenged its defeat in the 2011 elections at the hands of AINRC founder N Rangasamy, who broke away from the national party to form his outfit and rode it to power, as the ruling party fell by the wayside bagging just eight seats.</div><div><br /></div></div><div><div>Congress which contested 21 seats won in 15 seats. DMK emerged succesful in two segments, giving the combine a clear majority as it bucked initial trends of a close fight with the AINRC when counting of the votes polled in the May 16 assembly elections was taken up.</div><div><br /></div></div><div><div>AIADMK, which contested the elections on its own, won four seats. Independent V Ramachandran, backed by the People's Welfare Alliance (PWA), defeated Congress heavyweight E Valsaraj in Mahe.</div><div><br /></div></div><div><div>Prominent among the succesful Congress candidates are former chief minister and leader of the opposition in the outgoing assembly V Vaithilingam (Kamaraj Nagar) and Pradesh Congress Commitee President A Namassivayam (Villianur).</div><div><br /></div></div><div><div>In Karaikal South constituency, five-time DMK MLA A M H Nazeem lost to AIADMK's K A U Asana by a slender margin of 20 votes.</div><div><br /></div></div><div>Congress heavyweight E Valsaraj lost to independent V Ramachandran in Mahe. Former Congress strongman P Kannan, who joined the AIADMK on the eve of the elections, lost to his protege K Lakshminarayanan in Raj Bhavan constituency.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>The PWA comprising DMDK, MDMK, CPI-M, CPI and RSP contested 28 constituencies but drew a blank so did the BJP, which had fielded candidates in all 30 seats.</div><div><br /></div></div><div><div>With the Congress-DMK combine getting the majority mark, the focus will now shift to choosing the chief minister.</div><div><br /></div></div><div>Though none was projected as the chief ministerial candidate of the alliance, Namassivayam and Vaithilingam are front runners for the coveted post.</div></div>
<div><div>In a consolation win of sorts for Congress, which faced defeats in Assam and Kerala, the party in alliance with DMK today stormed to power in this tiny union territory, securing a simple majority of 17 in the 30-member assembly.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Congress avenged its defeat in the 2011 elections at the hands of AINRC founder N Rangasamy, who broke away from the national party to form his outfit and rode it to power, as the ruling party fell by the wayside bagging just eight seats.</div><div><br /></div></div><div><div>Congress which contested 21 seats won in 15 seats. DMK emerged succesful in two segments, giving the combine a clear majority as it bucked initial trends of a close fight with the AINRC when counting of the votes polled in the May 16 assembly elections was taken up.</div><div><br /></div></div><div><div>AIADMK, which contested the elections on its own, won four seats. Independent V Ramachandran, backed by the People's Welfare Alliance (PWA), defeated Congress heavyweight E Valsaraj in Mahe.</div><div><br /></div></div><div><div>Prominent among the succesful Congress candidates are former chief minister and leader of the opposition in the outgoing assembly V Vaithilingam (Kamaraj Nagar) and Pradesh Congress Commitee President A Namassivayam (Villianur).</div><div><br /></div></div><div><div>In Karaikal South constituency, five-time DMK MLA A M H Nazeem lost to AIADMK's K A U Asana by a slender margin of 20 votes.</div><div><br /></div></div><div>Congress heavyweight E Valsaraj lost to independent V Ramachandran in Mahe. Former Congress strongman P Kannan, who joined the AIADMK on the eve of the elections, lost to his protege K Lakshminarayanan in Raj Bhavan constituency.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>The PWA comprising DMDK, MDMK, CPI-M, CPI and RSP contested 28 constituencies but drew a blank so did the BJP, which had fielded candidates in all 30 seats.</div><div><br /></div></div><div><div>With the Congress-DMK combine getting the majority mark, the focus will now shift to choosing the chief minister.</div><div><br /></div></div><div>Though none was projected as the chief ministerial candidate of the alliance, Namassivayam and Vaithilingam are front runners for the coveted post.</div></div>