Madurantakam/Dharapuram, Oct 4: The high-decibel election campaign in the two reserved constituencies in Tamil Nadu that witness a five-way contest with allies battling each other ended on Sunday, with ruling TVK founder and Chief Minister Joseph C Vijay wrapping up his party’s campaign with an expansive roadshow that went for over three hours.
The Election Commission has barred any kind of campaigning from 6 PM on Sunday till the “closure of poll”.
Vijay made the bypoll clash yet another TVK vs DMK battle, although political observers are keenly watching whether the latter, which has mounted a spirited battle, or the Edappadi K Palaniswali-led AIADMK that is banking on local strongholds, could spring a surprise as ruling parties have largely dominated bypolls in the state.
TVK is keen to win both seats and increase its tally in the 234-member Assembly to 109, just nine short of a simple majority. While Congress, VCK and IUML are part of the TVK-led coalition ministry, the two Left parties– CPI (M) and CPI with two MLAs each, extend crucial outside support to the Vijay government.
Interestingly, the two Left parties have nominated one candidate each from Madurantakam and Dharapuram. They have even made cash distribution allegations against TVK and other parties.
Facing his first electoral test post the surprise win in the April 2026 Assembly elections, CM Vijay on Sunday embarked on a 40 km roadshow in Dharapuram, located in the western textile hub Tiruppur district.
The roadshow comes just two days after his similar event in Madurantakam, where his stops included tea breaks, hand at driving a tractor and interactions with the public. His Sunday roadshow included short public interactions and a temple visit, among others.
Bypolls in Madurantakam and Dharapuram, both reserved SC constituencies, are scheduled on Tuesday. The elections were necessitated following the resignation of then-sitting AIADMK MLAs K Maragatham Kumaravel and P Satyabama from Madurantakam and Dharapuram, respectively, joining the Vijay-led party.
Vijay has renominated the two women from the respective segments to secure wins in what are being seen as AIADMK’s strongholds.
In particular, the western TN region, mainly comprising Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Erode, and Salem districts, has been a traditional AIADMK stronghold that had backed the party even in its losing causes, but the TVK has already made a dent in them in the elections held in April, winning a significant number of seats across the region.
A battery of TVK leaders had been camping and campaigning in the constituencies over the last few days.
The dominant campaign discourse was the “horse-trading” charges levelled at TVK by the AIADMK and DMK, although Vijay rejected them, saying the then AIADMK MLAs could not stand the party leadership hobnobbing with its DMK counterpart. He even accused the two parties of plotting against his forming the government when it was short of a majority but emerged as the single largest party.
DMK’s former MLA I Paranthamen and Suganya are testing their fortunes from Madurantakam and Dharapuram, respectively, while actor-politician Seeman-headed NTK has also fielded candidates.
Counting of polled votes will be taken up on October 9.(PTI)
