Chennai: Ruling AIADMK-led Front's candidate and NJP Founder A C Shanmugham established an early and narrow lead over his DMK rival Kathir Anand a per the early trends, as counting of votes polled in the August five elections to Vellore Lok Sabha constituency began on Friday morning.
As per the trends and after the first round of counting, Shanmugham has gained a narrow lead of 2,667 votes.While Shanmugham polled 57,11 votes, Kathir Anand secured 54,844 votes so far, as the counting process continued.
The third party in the fray, Naam Tamizhar Katchi's Deepalakshmi has so far secured little over 1,000 votes.
The trends indicate a neck-and-beck affair as initially Shanmugham emerged as the leader, before Kathir Anand managed to establish a small lead over his AIADMK rival.
However, as the counting continued in all the six Assembly segments,Shanmugham, contesting under the AIADMK's 'Two Leaves' symbol, wrested the lead from the DMK candidate after the first hour of counting, which indicated that the contest was heading for a close finish.(UNI)