Tamil Nadu is gearing up for two heated political battles in Villupuram and Tirunelveli as bye-polls are to be conducted for Assembly seats in both districts. The decision on candidates for Vikravandi and Nanguneri constituencies is close to being finalised by the DMK and AIADMK.
According to sources in the ruling party, the focus this election will be tilted in favour of Vikravandi where AIADMK is believed to have a strong winning chance. The candidate for the constituency is likely to be R Lakshmanan, a former Rajya Sabha MP and Villupuram district secretary.
In Vikravandi, AIADMK is certain that based on its candidate’s caste and the party’s previous election performances, victory is certain. Lakshmanan belongs to the Vanniyar community, which is dominant in the area. In addition to this, in the previous Assembly Elections held in 2016, the DMK had won the Vikravani seat by a close margin of 7000 seats. The seat in Villupuram district, however, fell vacant after DMK MLA K Rathamani passed away in June. AIADMK sources tell TNM that with the PMK, whose main support base is the Vanniyar community, in their alliance they are likely to get a large share of votes.
In Nanguneri, meanwhile, the party believes its chances could be dented by the demographics of the region which hosts a large Christian population. And while they expect their alliance with the BJP to affect their votes in the constituency, they are still planning to select a candidate from the minority group.
“In Nanguneri, we could field Inbathamilan, who is a Christian Nadar. This will help our chances. Manoj Pandian is also vying for the seat but it is likely to go to Inabathamilan,” says an AIADMK source. Manoj Pandian is a former MLA.
Inbathamilan, a former Sports and Youth Welfare Minister returned to the AIADMK in June after leaving TTV Dhinakaran’s AMMK. In 2001, he had been pitted against his father R Tamaraikan, a five-time MLA from Srivilliputhur constituency, who had a falling out with former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. He later won the election to become an MLA.
In the DMK, the party chief MK Stalin has already announced that Congress will be contesting from Nanguneri while his party contests from Vikravandi.
In Vikravandi, the party is looking to prop up a willing family member of Rathamani, the deceased MLA, sources tell TNM. They are, however, aware that they will be facing a tight contest in the constituency.
In Nanguneri, the Congress will be in selecting a candidate. Its MLA H Vasanthakumar had resigned from Nanguneri after defeating former Union Minister and BJP’s Pon Radhakrishnan from Kanyakumari in the Lok Sabha Election this year. The DMK, however, is upbeat about its ally’s propsects in the bye-poll.
“The candidate will be supported by H Vasanthakumar who has great clout in the region and is likely to win,” says a source in the DMK.
DMK has further dismissed reports of Youth Wing Secretary, Udhayanidhi Stalin contesting from Vikravandi.
“We won by just thousands of votes last time. We can’t have him contesting from there,” a DMK source told TNM.
However, both parties predict that money will play a huge role in the upcoming bye-polls to bridge the gap that politics and ideology cannot.
“We may not on the face of it look strong in Nanguneri. But at the end of it, it will come down to who pays the voter more,” says an AIADMK source.
DMK also conceded that while they should ideally win in Nanguneri, the money to secure voters could decide the election’s verdict.
Nominations for the seats begin on September 23 and the last day for filing nominations is September 30. While scrutiny of nomination will happen on October 1, the counting will be on October 24.
Source: The News Minute