Chennai: The ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has won both assembly seats that went to by-elections in Tamil Nadu – Madurantakam and Dharapuram – strengthening Chief Minister Vijay’s position while dealing a fresh blow to the AIADMK.
The victories take TVK’s strength from 107 to 109 in the 234-member Assembly, still nine short of the majority mark of 118. The party will now look towards five other vacant seats that could go to by-elections soon, including Trichy East, which Vijay vacated after choosing to retain Perambur.
The seats fell vacant after sitting AIADMK MLAs Maragatham Kumaravel and Sathyabhama resigned within weeks of the Assembly elections and joined the ruling TVK, amid allegations of horse-trading that the party has denied. TVK fielded both leaders again, turning the by-polls into a test of whether they could retain their constituencies under their new political banner. Despite Vijay’s star power and the support of former allies of the DMK now backing his government, the margins were not overwhelming, particularly in Dharapuram. However, the victories provide the ruling party with a boost as it seeks to expand its strength in the Assembly. The government would remain a minority government, but with reduced dependence on its allies – Congress, which has five MLAs, and the Left parties, which support it from outside and have four MLAs together. This possibility assumes added significance amid growing discomfort within Congress over the chorus projecting Vijay as a potential Prime Ministerial candidate, which could complicate the ruling party’s relationship with its key ally. Chief Minister Vijay described the outcome as a victory against vulgar speech targeting women. TVK could also use the results to position itself as the principal inheritor of the AIADMK’s political space. Electricity Minister Nirmal Kumar denied that the ruling party was working to eliminate the AIADMK, describing its debacle as the outcome of EPS’s own making. For the DMK, which contested without major allies after a long time, retaining second place offers some reassurance that its core vote base remains intact. Party chief MK Stalin described TVK’s victory as an interim one, arguing that the ruling party had once again failed to secure the support of a majority when the opposition votes were taken together. DMK candidate K Sethu finished third.
A clean sweep of those five seats would take TVK to 114, still four short of a majority. Earlier reporting noted: Vijay’s magic continues in Tamil Nadu, TVK wins both bypolls to boost numbers in assembly Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay ‘s party TVK registered a win in the Dharapuram bypoll as its candidate, P Sathyabama, won by 9,471 votes. Sathyabama secured 66,841 votes, defeating DMK ‘s Suganya, who received 57,370 votes. Earlier reporting noted: TVK, which runs a minority government, has 107 MLAs and relies on the support of other parties, including the Congress, as well as the outside backing of the Left parties. In the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, 118 is the majority mark. Its nominee, Ashok Anand, won the Thattanchavady bypoll by over 8,000 votes, defeating his nearest rival, Congress candidate E Vinayagam.
He said Tamil Nadu was not a fortress for what he called corrupt forces, but a fortress for the people’s force.
Earlier reporting noted: In neighbouring Puducherry, the ruling AINRC emerged victorious in its first electoral test since assuming office a few months ago.
