Tamil Nadu byelection results: Brothers fielded by arch rivals DMK and AIADMK have close contest in Andipatti

MADURAI: An interesting contest is taking place in Andipatti assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu where two brothers -- pitted against each other by the AIADMK and the DMK -- are getting votes at a wafer-thin margin as counting of votes progressed on Thursday.
A Maharajan,65, is contesting in DMK ticket against his younger brother A Logirajan,60, of the AIADMK. While they started off with a difference of 91 votes in the first round with the elder getting the lead, it has been a seesaw battle since then.
At one point, there was a difference of just one vote between them.
Their father was a DMK man. Both the brothers are doing business and taking government building contract.
Maharajan joined the DMK in 1973 and has served as a union chairman. His younger brother, Lohirajan, joined the AIADMK in 1986. Lohirajan, a staunch supporter of deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam, was appointed as Andipatti union secretary of the party six months ago.
The nail-biting competition continued throughout the day as Maharajan was leading the counting by 639 votes. Maharajan had a vote share of 42% whereas the younger one got 40%.