AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa, a three-time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, will create history by becoming the first person after her mentor MG Ramachandran (MGR) to get a back-to-back victory to rule the State even as the final round of vote counting is in progress for the Assembly elections.
After Ramachandran’s victory in 1984, it will be for the first time that Tamil Nadu voters will elect Jayalalithaa for successive terms to rule from Fort St. George.
Thanking voters for the resounding victory in the Assembly elections, Jayalalithaa in a statement said that through this victory, the voters have put a "permanent'' end to the family (DMK leader M Karunanidhi’s) rule. The electorate did not believe in DMK’s false propaganda against the AIADMK government, she said.
The DMK believed in opinion and exit polls but not the people of the State, she said.
Jayalalithaa recollected the famous lyrics of MGR film song “vetri meedhu vetri vandhu ennai (nammai) serum'', which means “victory after victory will come to me (us)''.
“I am forever indebted to the people of Tamil Nadu for providing this victory to the AIADMK,” she said adding that all the promises made in the party's election manifesto will be fulfilled.
Jayalalithaa said that she will work tirelessly to make Tamil Nadu as the number one State in all the sectors.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first to congratulate Jayalalithaa over telephone even as the final verdict is yet to be announced.
In a tweet, Modi said "Had a telephone conversation with Jayalalithaa ji and congratulated her on her victory. Also conveyed my best wishes to her."
Tamil Nadu governor K Rosaiah, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik also congratulated Jayalalithaa.
At the time of filing this report, the ruling AIADMK had won in three constituencies and leading in 127. The DMK was leading in 89, Congress in 10, and Pattali Makkal Katchi and Puthia Tamizhagam in one each.
Election in two constituencies - Thanjavur and Aravakuruchi - has been deferred.