By IANS,
Chennai : Many of the Congress’ top leaders were trailing in Tamil Nadu though its alliance with the DMK and the VCK alliance was leading in 27 of the 39 constituencies in Tamil Nadu. The rival AIADMK front that includes the Left parties, MDMK and PMK was ahead in 12 seats.
Three-and-a-half hours into counting, which began at 8 a.m., the M. Karunanidhi-led DMK was leading in 17 of the 21 seats it was contesting. The Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK was ahead in 10 of the 23 seats it was fighting.
The Congress was leading in seven out of 16 constituencies it was contesting, though its big leaders like P. Chidambaram, E.V.K.S. Elangovan, Mani Shankar Aiyar and K.V. Thankabalu were trailing in their constituencies.
Chief Minister Karunanidhi’s son M.K. Azhagiri was ahead of his nearest CPI-M rival P Mohan in Madurai.
The PMK was trailing in all the seven seats it was contesting.
In the fray in Tamil Nadu are 823 candidates, including 41 women. In Puducherry, 28 politicians are contesting the lone parliamentary seat.