'Thermocol man' Sellur Raju wins big in Tamil Nadu despite party loss

In 2017, he caught the attention of netizens for trying to ‘conserve water’ during a drought

AIADMK faced a defeat in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections as MK Stalin's DMK romped home to victory after 10 years.

In the 2016 Assembly elections, AIADMK won eight out of 10 constituencies in Madurai and lost Tiruparankundram to DMK in the by-election. This time, the DMK has emerged victorious in five constituencies such as Madurai Central, Madurai North, Madurai East, Madurai North and Sholavandhan.

Read more: Media professionals to be considered as frontline workers in Tamil Nadu

Despite the loss, one of their candidates managed to win big in Madurai.

In the Madurai West segment, Sellur Raju defeated his DMK rival Chinnammal by a margin of 10,000 votes.

The NTK and MNM secured 18,224 and 15,849 votes there respectively, according to the Election Commission of India data.

`

Sellur K Raju has an interesting past.

In 2017, he had caught the attention of netizens for trying to ‘conserve water’ during a drought in the state.

In an attempt to prevent the water in the Vaigai reservoir from evaporating, the MLA invested Rs10 lakh to cover a portion of the dam with thermocol sheets. His conservation tactics had earned him ridicule from social media.