AIADMK party meet today to elect Jayalalithaa as leader

Chennai: Newly elected AIADMK MLAs will meet in Chennai this evening to elect party chief J. Jayalalithaa as legislature party leader, as she created history yesterday by becoming the first Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in 32 years to be voted back to power. The AIADMK bagged 134 seats out of 232 assembly constituencies that went to polls. The opposition DMK won 89 seats, while Congress bagged eight and IUML one. Jayalalithaa won Dr. RK Nagar constituency in Chennai and DMK Patriarch M. Karunanidhi won for a record 13th time from his home turf of Tiruvarur. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley were among the leaders who greeted Jayalalithaa. "Had a telephone conversation with Jayalalithaa ji and congratulated her on her victory. Also conveyed my best wishes to her. @AIADMKOfficial," the Prime Minister tweeted. Addressing party workers, Jayalalithaa called the victory a historic one and vowed to strive for the people with renewed vigour. She said that the verdict has put a permanent end to the family politics of DMK. Overwhelmed by the result, jubilant AIADMK workers burst crackers and distributed sweets. A large number of party workers thronged Ms. Jayalalithaa's Poes Garden residence area and the party headquarters.