Chennai: The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) registered a resounding victory in the Erode East Assembly bypoll, with its candidate V.C. Chandhirakumar winning by a massive margin of 91,558 votes on Saturday.

Chandhirakumar’s, a former legislator with late Vijayakant's DMDK, had joined the DMK in 2016. His win was so decisive that all 45 other candidates in the fray failed to secure the minimum required votes and forfeited their deposits.

However his victory, despite the absence of any high voltage campaign, was hardly surprising as the AIADMK, the principal opposition party in Tamil Nadu, had boycott the bypoll. So had the BJP. Only the Naam Tamilar Katchi had fielded a candidate. The others in the fray were inconsequential. Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu are due next year.