AIADMK MLAs to elect Jayalalithaa as legislature party leader

Newly-elected AIADMK MLAs will meet to re-elect party chief J Jayalalithaa as chief minister in Chennai on 20 May. With the assembly poll victory, Jayalalithaa is the state's first Chief Minister to be voted back to power in 32 years.

Of the 232 assembly constituencies that went to polls, the AIADMK bagged 134 seats while the DMK and Congress could gather 89 and 8 seats respectively.

Jayalalithaa won her seat from Dr RK Nagar constituency in Chennai while DMK Patriarch M Karunanidhi won for a record 13th time from his home turf of Tiruvarur, Hindustan Times reported.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also greeted Jayalalithaa. "Had a telephone conversation with Jayalalithaa ji and congratulated her on her victory. Also conveyed my best wishes to her," the Prime Minister tweeted.

Jayalalithaa, while addressing party workers, called the victory a historic one and vowed to strive for the people with renewed vigour. Jubilant AIADMK workers burst crackers and distributed sweets across the state.

A large number of party workers thronged Jayalalithaa's Poes Garden residence area and the party headquarters, the Hindustan Times reported.