EC’s plea in HC signals by-poll to RK Nagar soon

Earlier, caught between the possibilities of elections to Assembly or local bodies, besides that for 19 Assembly seats if the disqualification of 18 MLAs backing sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dinakaran was upheld, the parties in the state were finding it tough to formulate an alliance strategy since the plans would differ for every election. 

But, the EC’s plea in the Madras High Court had brought some clarity about the next poll fight in the state. 

The EC had moved a petition in the Madras High Court seeking the early hearing of the petition on RK Nagar by-poll since they stand in the way of notifying the by-poll, making it clear that it is keen to announce the by-election soon. 

The state had not faced any elections since the 2016 Assembly elections and political situation had undergone a sea change since then, especially after the death of charismatic leader J Jayalalithaa, the split in AIADMK and the inaction of DMK president M Karunanidhi.

People of the state, besides political analysts and politicians themselves are clueless about the support to the two AIADMK factions, the present strength of the DMK and other parties. 

The by-election at RK Nagar is expected to shed some light into the strength of the parties, especially the ruling party headed by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and the side-lined AIADMK leader TTV Dinakaran who had vowed to enter the RK Nagar race. 

The by-election will become an unavoidable fight for the ruling faction to show its support among the support among when Dinakaran is entering the fray.

The Palaniswami faction is pinning its hopes on the verdict on ‘Two Leaves’ by the EC and is expecting a judgment when the poll process is kick started. 

Optimistic of winning the party’s magical symbol, the ruling faction hopes to edge out Dinakaran in the RK Nagar battle, which will be make or break the fight for the sidelined leader.