Bypoll campaigning ends in 4 states including Tamil Nadu:Vijay holds 40-km roadshow in Dharapuram, voting on October 6

Campaigning for the by-elections to Tamil Nadu’s Madurantakam and Dharapuram Assembly constituencies ended on Sunday, with both seats witnessing a five-cornered contest. The two constituencies are reserved for Scheduled Castes. TVK founder and Chief Minister Joseph C. Vijay held a roadshow in Dharapuram on the final day of campaigning. The roadshow lasted more than three hours and covered around 40 km, with Vijay making brief stops to interact with people. As per Election Commission rules, campaigning in both constituencies ended at 6 pm on Sunday. Voting will be held on Tuesday, while counting of votes is scheduled for October 9. Bypolls triggered by AIADMK MLAs’ resignations The by-elections were necessitated after the then AIADMK MLAs from the two constituencies resigned and joined Vijay-led TVK. K. Maragatham Kumaravel, who represented Madurantakam, and P. Sathyabama, the MLA from Dharapuram, quit the AIADMK before joining TVK. Vijay has once again fielded the two women leaders from their respective constituencies. Both seats have traditionally been considered AIADMK strongholds. TVK seeks to turn contest into fight with DMK Vijay has sought to frame the bypolls as a direct contest between TVK and the ruling DMK. The results are also being closely watched for the performance of the AIADMK under Edappadi K. Palaniswami. The DMK has fielded former MLA I. Paranthamen from Madurantakam and Suganya from Dharapuram. The Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), led by actor-politician Seeman, has also fielded candidates in both seats. The bypolls have also seen candidates from alliance partners contesting against each other. Ruling parties have traditionally performed strongly in Tamil Nadu by-elections. TVK needs both seats to strengthen Assembly numbers The two constituencies are important for TVK as the party is seeking victories in both seats. A clean sweep would take its strength to 109 in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, leaving it nine seats short of the simple majority mark. The Congress, VCK and IUML are part of the TVK-led coalition government, while the two Left parties — CPI(M) and CPI — have two MLAs each and provide outside support to the Vijay government. Both Left parties have fielded candidates in the bypolls, with one candidate each contesting from Madurantakam and Dharapuram. They have also accused TVK and other parties of distributing money during the campaign. Vijay’s first major electoral test as Chief Minister The bypolls are being seen as Vijay’s first electoral test after his victory in the April Assembly election. On Sunday, Vijay campaigned in Dharapuram in Tiruppur district, in western Tamil Nadu. The region includes major industrial centres and has traditionally been an AIADMK stronghold. The Dharapuram roadshow came two days after Vijay campaigned in Madurantakam. During that roadshow, he stopped for tea, met local residents, tried driving a tractor and interacted with voters. On Sunday, Vijay again interacted briefly with people during the roadshow and also visited a temple. Several senior TVK leaders had been stationed in both constituencies for days, campaigning ahead of the final phase. Horse-trading allegations remain campaign issue Allegations of “horse-trading” levelled against TVK by the AIADMK and DMK remained a key issue during the campaign. Vijay rejected the allegations. He claimed that the two former AIADMK MLAs left the party because they disagreed with its leadership’s growing proximity to the DMK. Vijay also accused the AIADMK and DMK of attempting to prevent TVK from forming the government. He claimed that although his party had fallen short of a majority, it had emerged as the single-largest party. Western Tamil Nadu, comprising districts such as Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Erode and Salem, has traditionally been an AIADMK stronghold. However, TVK made significant gains in the region in the April Assembly election, winning several seats and expanding its presence in the area.