After AMMK, MNM also decides not to contest byelections

Naam Tamilar Katchi to contest in Nanguneri, Vikravandi

After Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam has decided not to contest the Nanguneri and Vikravandi Assembly byelections scheduled for October 21. The two parties did not contest the Vellore Lok Sabha bypoll earlier this year.

Film actor-director Seeman’s Naam Tamilar Katchi, however, has chosen to put up candidates as it did in Vellore.

Mr. Haasan on Sunday said the party did not want to enter the fray claiming “the byelections will be nothing more than the power struggle between the current ruling party and the party which ruled earlier.”

Asked if the party chief thinks that the perceived corruption would be any different in the 2021 State Assembly polls, MNM vice-president R. Mahendran, said, “Anyone — be it the press, voters or political parties — knows that the scale of corruption is exponentially higher than the ‘norm’ — if we can call it that — in a by-election than in the general polls. So, MNM finds no merit in contesting in such a skewed contest.”

AMMK founder T.T.V. Dhinakaran, who shot to fame with his surprise victory in R.K. Nagar Assembly by-polls in 2017, recently said that his party would not contest by-polls until they get a permanent symbol. “I don’t think the party registration will be completed in time. And we will not be contesting without the symbol,” he had told journalists.

NTK’s consistent stand

The Naam Tamilar Katchi, a small political player similar to these two parties, has been consistent in its stance that it would contest every election — even though it might seem like an uphill task.

“We will never back down from a contest. For us, it is an opportunity to meet our cadres and meet the people once again. We don’t worry about taking on the big parties and the results. It is an opportunity to take our party to the people once again,” said Packiarajan Sethuramalingam, spokesperson, Naam Tamilar Katchi. He said contesting elections and taking the party to the people of Tamil Nadu was more important than the result itself.

TNCC leader Gopanna said: “I was surprised by Mr. Dhinakaran’s decision to not contest. In the case of Kamal Haasan, it might be the case that he doesn’t want to exhaust himself contesting in the by-polls.”

In the past, even mainstream parties such as the DMK and the AIADMK have stayed away from contesting by-election accusing the ruling party of the time of indulging in widespread voter bribery and corruption. However, by-elections have turned out to be decisive for parties.

For instance, after M.G.Ramachandran was expelled from the DMK in October 1972, he galvanised cadre the very next year by winning the by-polls in Dindigul Lok Sabha constituency and the Coimbatore West Assembly seat.