India, Oct. 9 -- Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), led by Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay, has won the Dharapuram Assembly bypoll and is leading in Madurantakam as of round 21/27 of counting. TVK candidate P Sathyabama was declared winner from the Dharapuram SC Assembly constituency after securing 66,841 votes, defeating DMK's Suganya, who polled 57,370 votes, by 9,471 votes.

Opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president M K Stalin on Friday described the bypolls as a "blatant murder of democracy" in a social media post, calling TVK's gains an "interim victory for betrayal" and claiming that the "downfall of fake image politics" had begun.

Vijay targeted the DMK over remarks aimed at women, saying the electoral victory was...