CHENNAI: The opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Congress in Tamil Nadu quickly reached an accord in fighting the ensuing October 21 byelections for two Assembly constituencies from Nanguneri and Vikravandi, hours after the Election Commission announced the schedule on Saturday, shoring up their electoral alliance which was under some strain in recent weeks.
The DMK agreed to let Congress re-contest the Nanguneri seat though the Dravidian party was also eyeing it this time after its huge victory in the Lok Sabha elections. The Vikravandi seat, already held by DMK, will be re-contested by it.
The reaffirmation of the DMK-Congress poll pact came after a meeting the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K S Azhagiri had with the DMK president M K Stalin at the latter's headquarters. Senior Congress leader Kumari Ananthan, also accompanied Azhagiri for the meeting.
After the meeting, Mr. Stalin told reporters that at the meeting of both the party leaders, it was decided that DMK will again contest Vikravandi seat, while Congress would be in the fray again for the Nanguneri seat, which was earlier won by the national party. The Kamaraj Nagar seat in Puducherry has also been allotted to the Congress, Mr. Stalin said.
Leaders of both the parties said that their respective candidates would be announced soon. Asked what would be the issues for the Assembly by-elections, Mr Stalin said, "people will give a fitting reply to the ruling party AIADMK."
Meanwhile, the DMK general council meeting scheduled for October 6 has been postponed due to the Assembly by-polls. Fresh date for it will be announced later. Party aspirants for DMK ticket could submit their forms on Monday, Stalin said, adding, interviews will be held on September 24 after which the candidate will be announced.
DMK legislator K Radha Mani in Vikravandi had died of cancer necessitating this by-election. A staunch supporter of Ponmudi, it is said that the ex-minister had played a major role in his getting the seat; so, it is quite likely that Ponmudi could have a say now in the choice of the party candidate in this bypoll.
AIADMK IS ALREADY READY:
The ruling AIADMK on its part said they were already "ready" to face the two Assembly by-elections from Nanguneri and Vikravandi. Senior AIADMK minister D Jayakumar said, "our chances of winning are very bright." The AIADMK will contest both the seats.
The AIADMK's coordinator and co-coordinator respectively, Mr. O. Panneerselvam and Edappadi K Palaniswami respectively, have separately announced that aspirants for party tickets could submit their forms at the AIADMK headquarters on September 23 and 24. The party will then finalise the candidates for both the seats and due announcement made, they added.
The AMMK led by TTV Dhinakaran, on its part said his party will not contest the Assembly by-elections. "Until we get a separate symbol, we have decided not to participate in any by-election," Mr. Dhinakaran said.
