AIADMK candidate V Maithreyan, who is also the leader of the party in the Rajya Sabha, won a third term while CPI Secretary D Raja won a second term with help of AIADMK.
The prinicipal opposition party in the state assembly, DMDK, had to bite the dust as its candidate A R Elangovan lost in the wake of seven of his own partymen voting for AIADMK candidates in open defiance.
DMDK has 29 members in the 234-member state assembly and Elangovan polled 22 votes.
The political acumen of Karunanidhi ensured his daughter, who is an accused in 2G spectrum scam case, a succssive term in Rajya Sabha.