Kamal Haasan loses his maiden poll by a slender margin

The BJP is set for a return to the Tamil Nadu state assembly after two decades.

Actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam chief Kamal Haasan lost his maiden poll by a slender margin of 1,728 votes to BJP national women’s wing president Vanathi Srinivasan in Coimbatore South assembly constituency.

After a close race, Vanathi bagged 53,209 votes while Kamal got 51,481 votes.

Congress’s state working president Mayura Jayakumar, who entered the fray from the DMK front, polled 41,426 votes.

Though Kamal had been ahead of Vanathi Srinivasan as well as Jayakumar right from the morning, the tide turned in favour of the BJP candidate when counting commenced for the 23rd round.

Vanathi surged ahead of Kamal in that round and maintained the lead for the remaining two rounds.

In the high-profile contest at Thousand Lights, actress Kushboo, who faced the election for the first time, lost by over 30,000 votes to N. Ezhilan of the DMK.