States » SouthPosted at: Oct 4 2026 1:38PM


High decibel campaign for bypoll to 2 TN seats end, leaders, candidates, leaders make last ditch effort to woo voters

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Chennai, Oct 4 (UNI) The hustle and bustle of the high-decibel and no-holds barred campaign for the October six bypoll to two Reserved Assembly seats, Madurantakam and Dharapuram, came to close on Sunday evening at 1700 hrs.
As the curtains on the campaign, which was marred by personal and virulent attacks, came down, the silent period came into effect setting the stage for polling in the two seats on Tuesday.
The bypoll, being necessitated in just four months after Vijay formed the government with a stunning performance in April elections, will test the TVK's governance which has come under sharp attack for not honouring its pre-poll promises and for non-waiver of crop loans in toto as promised.
While the bypolls was an early acid test for TVK on whether it can consolidate its position further based on Vijay's charisma. The outcome of this polls was seen as a forerunner to the bye-election to the other five vacant seats. With many of the AIADMK members, including MLAs and former Ministers having switched loyalties after the April polls, a TVK victory in both Dharapuram and Madurantakam could possibly trigger more exodus from AIADMK towards the ruling dispensation, that would further weaken Edappadi K Palaniswami’s hold over the AIADMK.
For the AIADMK, retaining the seats -- considered as their strongholds -- would demonstrate the party’s resilience and give a boost to general secretary Palaniswami, especially in the context of AIADMK suffering successive poll defeats and searching for answers to this riddle.
The bypoll will witness a five-cornered contest involving the ruling TVK, which has come under attack from the four other contesting parties, the main Opposition DMK, AIADMK, the two left parties CPI and CPI-M, which has entered the fray in one seat each despite offering outside support to the Chief Minister Vijay government, and Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) of actor-director Seeman.
As the campaign reached the final day, leaders--who had launched a broadside against TVK on various issues--of all the parties made a last ditch effort to woo the voters, by holding road shows, indulging in door-to-door campaigning and addressing rallies. Among those who campaigned included Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and TVK Founder VIjay, DMK President M.K.Stalin, AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K.Palaniswami, Seeman and left party leaders.
The entry of the Left Parties, which are contesting on its own, has converted the bypolls--seen as a referendum to the four-month-old Vijay government-- into a five-cornered contest.
The entry of the left parties in the fray, while asserting that there would be no threat to the stability of the Vijay government and that
their committed outside support to it would continue, has surprised not only the TVK but also other allies. However, they justified their decision saying they were not part of any of the three fronts headed by the formidable TVK, which has Congress, VCK and IUML, the DMK-led SPA, which faced post-poll desertions and now left with DMDK as its lone ally, and the AIADMK-heading NDA that also has BJP, PMK, which has decided not to support any party, and AMMK.
A total of 49 candidates are in the fray in the two seats which fell vacant following the resignation of Rebel AIADMK MLAs leading to the bypolls.
Those in the race in the tough contest are candidates of the ruling TVK, which had expectedly fielded turncoats Ms.K.Maragatham Kumaravel (Madurantakam) and Ms.P.Sathyabama (Dharapuram) -- who had held the seat before they quit the AIADMK and joined the TVK resulting in bypolls.
Apart from Maragatham Kumaravel, DMK's I.Paranthaman, former MLA Ms.Kanitha Sampath of AIADMK, Ms.P.Suganthi of CPI-M and Naam Tamizhar Katchi (NTK)'s K,Janakiraman are in the fray in Madurantakam, while Sathyabama (TVK), Ms.S.Suganya (DMK), AIADMK's Ms.K.Bhanumathi, P.Lakshmanan of CPI and NTK's M.Karthika are the main contestants in Dharapuram. The rest were Independents.
While Vijay twice visited both the seats, addressed poll rallies and held road shows, his Cabinet colleagues shared the majority of the electioneering burden, with the alliances parties who are part of the TVK-led Secular Social Justice Victory Alliance including from Congress, VCK, IUML, who are also part of the government, and the latest entrant MDMK, canvassed votes for the TVK candidates contesting on behalf of the Front.
For DMK, Stalin addressed a rally each and also made an appeal to the voters through a video message to vote for his party, while his son and Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin and senior leaders including Ms.Kanimozhi, MP, former Ministers, ally DMDK leader Ms.Premalatha Vijayakanth also indulged in electioneering. While Seeman was the lone main campaigner, for the two Left parties their State Secretaries spearheaded the campaign in the seats considered as the AIADMK strongholds.
The campaigning was marked by strong and personal attacks with the TVK taking on the DMK, AIADMK and BJP, while the DMK, AIADMK, NTK and the left parties taking the ruling party head on accusing it of
failure on multiple fronts, including indulging in horse trading by poaching AIADMK MLAs.
Meanwhile, campaigning also drew to a close for the bypoll to the Thattanchavady Assembly constituency in neighbouring Puducherry, where a total of 11 candidates are in the fray. Among the key candidates in the four-cornered contest included ruling AINRC nominee and former MLA Ashok Anand, contesting as part of NDA, E Vinayagam of Congress contesting as an ally of the TVK,, DMK's K Sethu alias Sethuselvam, and CPI's A Mohamed Saleem.
The bypoll was caused following the resignation of Chief Minister and AINRC Founder N.Rangasamy, who had won from two seats in the April 9 elections, and chose to retain the Mangalam seat.
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Tags: #High decibel campaign for bypoll to 2 TN seats end# leaders# candidates# leaders make last ditch effort to woo voters
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