Tamil Nadu bypolls: DMK to contest from Vikravandi, Congress from Nanguneri, says MK Stalin

The Vikravandi assembly constituency in Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu fell vacant after DMK legislator K Radhamani passed away this June. Similarly, the Nanguneri assembly constituency in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu and Kamraj Nagar in the Union of Pudhucherry fell vacant after HL Vasantha Kumar and V Vaithilingam of the Congress resigned after being elected as the MP from the Kanyakumari and Pudhucherry constituency.

Speaking to indianexpress.com, DMK MP RS Bharathi said AIADMK stood no chance in the bypolls. “Congress asked for Nanguneri constituency and we agreed because they have won in that constituency and their claim is legitimate. Our alliance will win all the constituencies because people are in favor of DMK,” Bharathi said.

“There is no job security for people, companies are laying off people in the state, so people have lost faith in this ruling AIADMK government, they have no chance to win this election,” he said. Bharathi added DMK would announce its candidate most likely by September 24.

On the other hand, Kovai Selvaraj of AIADMK said DMK offered fake promises in the Lok Sabha elections and it won’t work in the bypolls.

“All the promises made by DMK are fake assurances. They told they will offer jobs for 1 crore people, they said they will waive off gold loans, nothing happened in reality and people realise their mistake now. In Vellore constituency, DMK was not able to gain a foothold in any of the constituencies except Vaniyambadi and Ambur. Good governance by Chief Minister Edappadi Palanisamy and implementation of various welfare schemes will see people voting for AIADMK,” said Selvaraj.

When asked whether BJP would campaign for AIADMK for the bypolls amid reports that the saffron party was avoided in the Vellore Lok Sabha elections due to high percentage of minority voters, Selvaraj said the AIADMK was capable on its own of gaining people’s trust.

“Those are just allegations. This election results will be solely based on how people recognise AIADMK’s good governance. The Centre has no role in this; this is a bye-election. All our allies, including BJP, will support for us, AIADMK will win this by a fair margin,” Selvaraj said.

In a statement on Saturday, AIADMK invited applications from prospective candidates who wished to contest the bypolls to Vikravandi and Nanguneri assembly constituencies. By depositing Rs 25,000, the candidates can obtain the application from party headquarters on September 22 and September 23.

AMMK chief TTV Dhinakaran said his party won’t be contesting the bypolls as the registration process of the party with the Election Commission was still to be completed.

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