CM Vijay appoints Aadhav, Arunraj to oversee Maduranthakam, Dharapuram bypolls respectively

CHENNAI: Chief Minister and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president C Joseph Vijay has appointed election observers and task forces for the October 6 by-elections in the Madurantakam and Dharapuram Assembly constituencies.

The three election observers are N Anand, KA Sengottaiyan and CTR Nirmal Kumar.

For Madurantakam (Reserved), Aadhav Arjuna has been appointed in-charge, with B Rajkumar, K Thennarasu and R Vinoth as co-in-charges. P Saravanamurthy, S Thiagarajan, B Vijayaraj, Kamatchi and M S Balaji alias Manikandan have been appointed deputy in-charges.

For Dharapuram (Reserved), KG Arunraj has been appointed in-charge, with M Vijay Balaji, C Vijayalakshmi and Lokesh Tamilselvan as co-in-charges. S Balamurugan, V Sathyabhama, K Ramkumar, CS Dileep and M Sathya have been appointed deputy in-charges.

The party said the teams would carry out election-related work in their respective constituencies, while the observers would oversee the work across both seats. It urged party cadres to extend their cooperation to the teams, as per an official statement.

Vijay also called on party members to work towards securing victory for TVK candidates under the party's 'Whistle' symbol and achieving the largest victory margin in the history of by-elections.

The party said it would soon organise public outreach programmes in the two constituencies in support of its candidates.

TVK fields Maragatham Kumaravel, Sathyabama for Madurantakam, Dharapuram bypolls

The ruling TVK has named former AIADMK MLAs K Maragatham Kumaravel and P Sathyabama as its candidates for the October 6 bypolls to Madurantakam (SC) and Dharapuram (SC) Assembly constituencies, respectively, fulfilling the assurance given to the two leaders when they resigned their Assembly seats and joined the party.

Maragatham Kumaravel, who represented Madurantakam, and Sathyabama, who represented Dharapuram, had quit the AIADMK and resigned as MLAs on May 25 before joining the TVK. Their resignations led to the two constituencies falling vacant.

When will the 2 TN bypolls be held?

The bypolls are politically significant as they will be the first electoral test for the three-month-old TVK government. The Election Commission has fixed October 6 as polling day, with counting scheduled for October 9. The nomination process begins on September 9 and ends on September 16.

The Madurantakam constituency has 2,11,295 voters, including 1,03,943 men, 1,07,288 women and 64 third-gender voters. The Model Code of Conduct has already come into force in the constituency.

When will bypolls be held for 5 other TN seats?

The two seats are among seven vacancies in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. The EC, however, has not announced polls for Tiruchy East, Ambasamudram, Viralimalai, Perundurai, and Karur, where election-related cases concerning the returned candidates are pending. The restraint on holding by-elections in these five constituencies has been extended till September 8.

(With inputs from Bureau)