TVK Needs Big Swing in Dharapuram to Wrest AIADMK’s Kongu Bastion

Chennai:The ruling TVK needs a big swing in the Dharapuram bypoll for a victory since it has polled only 23.23 per cent votes in the 2026 Assembly elections while the AIADMK obtained 40.56 per cent votes in the Kongu region considered an AIADMK bastion.

The DMK finished in the second position with 32.2 per cent votes in a contest between the Dravidian parties. The TVK has not announced any schedule for its leader Joseph Vijay’s election campaign in Dharapuram which was not visited by him during the Assembly election campaign. A high-voltage campaign by the charismatic TVK leader is expected to result in a razzle-dazzle, swinging the votes from the opponents to the TVK in a big way.

The TVK is also banking on the changed situation of being the ruling party which alone could provide the infrastructure and irrigation schemes to the constituency. Besides, the TVK hopes to tap the anti-DMK votes which went to the AIADMK since both parties set up a picture as if the contest is between the two Dravidian parties and voting for the TVK would go down the drain.

The TVK is now backed by Congress, MDMK, VCK and IUML. The Congress polled 3.55 per cent in Dharapuram Assembly segments in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections which was the last time they contested alone while the MDMK garnered 4.71 per cent votes in the 2001 Assembly polls. It is not known if their votes have shrunk or expanded since they had faced the people alone a long time ago. The VCK was not in the fray on its own at any time. But their votes are a certain addition to the TVK’s vote share.

The PMK’s announcement of not supporting the AIADMK is unlikely to hit the Dravidian party in Dharapuram where the PMK strength is negligible. But the people will be aware that the AIADMK could not capture power in the State by winning a by-poll. However, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami is trying to neutralise the ‘vote for the ruling party syndrome’ by asserting that Joseph Vijay’s government would not last long. At a public meeting in Salem on Sunday, the AIADMK leader said one of the four legs of the TVK government is shaking since the Left parties are opposing the government which would fall anytime, he said.

Dharapuram is expected to turn into a battle between the TVK and AIADMK and the response to the campaign of top leaders including Joseph Vijay, DMK president M.K. Stalin and Palaniswami are likely to give an indicator of the Dharapuram by-poll which is expected to be closer than that of Madhuranthagam by-poll.