CHENNAI: Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) won the Madurantakam and Dharapuram Assembly by-elections on Friday, defeating the DMK in both constituencies, while the AIADMK finished third despite having won the seats in the April Assembly election. BJP's ally AINRC won the Thattanchavady byelection with ease in neighbouring Puducherry.
Unlike by-elections held during the regimes of the two Dravidian majors, the victory margins remained relatively narrow, reflecting a close three-cornered contest, a first in the State.
The results mark the first major electoral test for TVK after the party formed the government in Tamil Nadu. With the two victories, TVK's strength in the Assembly has increased from 107 to 109. Five more Assembly constituencies are expected to face by-elections in the near future as their seats have fallen vacant. The victories of two former AIADMK MLAs who switched sides after the Assembly election are also likely to encourage more defections.
As many as 25 of the AIADMK's 47 MLAs voted in favour of the TVK government during the trust vote in May, rebelling against AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami.
Though the DMK finished second in both constituencies, improving on its third-place finish in the April Assembly election, its vote share declined compared with the general election.
Vijay on Friday hailed his party’s victories in the bypolls as a mandate against money power, personal attacks and political impropriety, asserting that the results reaffirmed the people’s faith in his party. In a statement, Vijay claimed that the TVK had won without distributing money to voters or confining them, describing the victories as a triumph of love, affection and relationships over money-driven electoral practices. Both Stalin and Palaniswami accused the ruling TVK of misusing official machinery and indulging in electoral malpractices to secure victory in the Madurantakam and Dharapuram by-elections.
In Madurantakam, TVK candidate K Maragatham Kumaravel defeated DMK candidate I Paranthaman by a margin of 20,040 votes. In Dharapuram, TVK candidate P Sathyabama won by 9,471 votes in a keenly contested three-way battle. The AIADMK finished third in both seats.
In Madurantakam, Maragatham Kumaravel secured 74,048 votes against Paranthaman's 54,008. AIADMK candidate and former MLA S Kanitha Sampath finished third with 47,450 votes.
In Dharapuram, Sathyabama polled 66,841 votes, accounting for 37.02% of the votes cast, while DMK candidate S Suganya secured 57,370 votes (31.78%). AIADMK candidate K Banumathi received 45,280 votes (25.08%).