Bypoll in Vikravandi will not be fair and free: EPS on boycott call

A day after announcing that the AIADMK would boycott the bypoll for the Vikravandi assembly constituency, party general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) on Sunday justified his decision saying that the ruling DMK would not allow it to be a free and fair election.

“DMK ministers, cadres will misuse the power of a ruling party, they will also unleash violence and lawlessness and not allow people to vote independently,” EPS said on Sunday. “So, the bypoll will not be fair and free.”

The AIADMK’s decision to give the July 10 bypoll a miss, makes Vikravandi a contest between the DMK, NDA ally Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), and the Naam Tamizhar Katchi (NTK).

It is the first poll since the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections in which the AIADMK registered one of its worst performances. The DMK’s coalition had a landslide victory sweeping all 39 seats in Tamil Nadu.

The Vikravandi constituency was left vacant after DMK MLA N Pugazhendhi died due to illness on April 6. EPS believed that boycotting the poll would not further pull down the morale of his cadre who have faced only defeats in the state since J Jayalalithaa’s death in 2016. He recalled that former chief minister and AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa had also boycotted bypolls accusing the DMK of electoral malpractices in 2009.

The ruling coalition has fielded DMK’s Anniyur Siva, secretary of agricultural labourer’s wing as their candidate.

NDA has fielded PMK vice-president C Anbumani. When PMK contested independently in the 2016 assembly elections, Anbumani contested from the Vikravandi seat and lost to the DMK candidate with AIADMK finishing as runner-up.

NTK which fielded 50% women in the recent Lok Sabha elections has fielded homoeopathy doctor Abinaya Ponnivalan.

“AIADMK’s decision to boycott the Vikravandi by-election is clear evidence that it has received instructions from the ‘top’ to facilitate the electoral chances of the NDA candidate (PMK),” said senior Congress leader P Chidambaram in a post on X. “Both BJP and AIADMK are fighting the battle through a proxy (PMK). The INDIA bloc must ensure the resounding victory of the DMK candidate.”