Chennai: The bypolls to three constituencies, Aravakurichi, Thanjavur and Thirupparankundram will be the first test for the ruling AIADMK after the victory in the Assembly elections and DMK too will go all out prove that its good show is not a flash in the pan.
The ruling parties have always won the bypolls with huge margins and the winning margin too will be keenly watched in the three constituencies. The ruling party is sure to miss the campaign of its charismatic leader J Jayalalithaa who used to spend at least one day for bypoll campaign. But, observers feel that the sympathy factor for the Chief Minister will more than make up for the loss of her presence in the campaign.
Despite the field works of ministers and senior party leaders, the one-day visit of the AIADMK leader, coming at the peak of the campaign used to be the key event of the elections, turning any contest in favour of the ‘two leaves’.
The DMK too will have its restrictions as it could not make allegations against the ruling party, especially the Chief Minister, under the present circumstances. It will have to hit out at the AIADMK without appearing to be indecent.
But, the major consolation for the DMK is that it does not have too many contenders to split the opposition votes. The DMDK is unlikely to be a major challenge, while the BJP and PMK do not have a notable presence in all the three seats. The PWA is the lone political formation which could spoil the DMK’s chances by cutting into opposition support. If the DMK checked the four-party formation from eroding its votes, the principal opposition could provide a tough challenge to the AIADMK.
Even going by the 2014 Parliament elections, when DMK was routed, the party has strong support in Aravakurichi and Thanjavur Assembly segments where it has crossed 40 per cent votes.
The AIADMK which swept the Lok Sabha polls had recorded 45.52 per cent in Aravakurichi and 47.13 per cent in Thanjavur. The MDMK which is in the contest at Aravakurichi has polled 24.43 per cent votes in 1996 and 15.80 per cent votes in 2001, when it contested alone. But, the party’s support has been eroded a lot during the last 15 years.
Thanjavur was allocated to the DMDK in the PWA alliance, but one of the four parties are likely to contest now as the DMDK has snapped its ties with PWA now.
