The much-awaited Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar (R.K. Nagar) Assembly by-election, slated for April 12, is going to be the first major political test for the post-Jayalalithaa All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), which is split between jailed interim general secretary V.K. Sasikala and rebel leader-cum-former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam.
Considered a traditional stronghold of the AIADMK, the R.K. Nagar constituency in Chennai saw the party winning on seven occasions out of 11 times in the last 40 years.
The AIADMK’s nominees were elected successively five times since 2001. When the party had emerged victorious, it had netted at least 50% of the votes polled, except in 1977 when there was an intensely fought four-cornered contest. That the party has set its eyes on retaining the seat is evident from the fact that Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami took part in two events in the area in the last one week.
It is against this backdrop that the by-election is, for more than one reason, being viewed as significant for the party when no strong leadership appears to have emerged within the AIADMK.
Besides, the party vote share may witness division as the camp led by the former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam would field its candidate and founder of the MGR Amma Deepa Peravai J. Deepa, the niece of Jayalalithaa, has announced that she would contest in the bypoll.
Political observer Perumal Mani feels that the situation will become much more volatile in the event of any adverse ruling of the Election Commission for the Sasikala camp on the issue of appointment of Sasikala as interim general secretary.
Irrespective of how the AIADMK’s vote share would get divided this time, the party deputy general secretary T.T.V. Dinakaran sounded confident of retaining the seat with “a huge margin” and asserted that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam would be the main rival of his party.
Without ruling himself out of the electoral fray, he replied to a reporter’s query at the party headquarters on Thursday that it was for the party administrative committee, which was reconstituted on Thursday, to decide who would be the candidate.
B. Valarmathi, former Minister and one of the members of the administrative committee, told The Hindu that the party would focus essentially on two aspects. It would demolish “false campaigns” against the AIADMK on the controversy surrounding the death of Jayalalithaa and on the issue of perceived adverse image of Sasikala; it would highlight the “good deeds of Amma (Jayalalithaa) regime.”
