It is a high-stakes bypoll in the Vikravandi Assembly constituency with the ruling DMK keen on retaining the seat amid an all-out fight by the PMK to draw on the caste arithmetic and provide a tough challenge. The Naam Tamilar Katchi is also in the fray but it is yet to get a positive response for support from the AIADMK and DMDK, which have chosen to boycott the July 10 bypoll.
The bypoll was necessitated following the death of DMK MLA N. Pugazhenthi on April 6. The constituency is facing its second by-election in the last five years. The constituency’s caste composition is predominantly Vanniyars followed by Dalits and other intermediate castes.
All the three candidates in Vikravandi belong to the dominant Vanniyar community. The DMK has fielded Anniyur Siva, secretary of the party’s agricultural labourer’s wing while the PMK as part of the NDA alliance has given ticket to C. Anbumani. The Naam Tamilar Katchi has fielded Abinaya Ponnivalavan.
Naam Tamilar Katchi candidate Abinaya.
Taking no chances, the DMK has deployed a battery of Ministers for campaigning in the constituency. Against the backdrop of the recent hooch tragedy in the neighbouring Kallakurichi district that has claimed 65 lives, the DMK is banking on the implementation of many welfare schemes by the M.K. Stalin government in the last three years.
The PMK, which has been in a precarious position following its drubbing in the recent Lok Sabha elections, has been trying to win popular support by blaming the DMK government for not conducting a caste census thereby denying Vanniyars the scope for internal reservations in government jobs and higher education. The PMK, headed by Anbumani Ramadoss, has launched an intensive door-to-door campaign by banking on mobilising the support of the Vanniyar community on how the DMK has been delaying the implementation of 10.5% internal reservation sought by the PMK long ago.
The ruling party, on its part, has put the ball in the Centre’s court by getting the Assembly to adopt a resolution urging the Union Government to conduct the caste census alongside the decadal population census.
Mr. C Anbumani had contested from Vikravandi in the 2016 Assembly elections, and secured 41,119 votes against the AIADMK’s 56,622 votes and the DMK’s 63,203 votes. The PMK garnered over 23.19 % of the total votes then.
The NTK is hoping to split votes and possibly draw voters from the support base of the AIADMK. While a majority of the Dalits are likely to vote for the DMK, a three-way split of Vanniyar votes may prove costly for the PMK.
Before delimitation of the constituencies, Vikravandi formed part of the Kandamangalam (Reserved) segment. In the 2011 elections, the first one after delimitation, Ramamurthy of the CPI (M) won the seat beating K. Rathamani of the DMK by a margin of 14,897 votes.
In the 2016 elections, K. Rathamani defeated his nearest AIADMK rival R. Velu by a margin of 6,912 votes. In the 2019 by-election, the AIADMK’s Muthamizhselvan won the seat by a margin of 44,934 votes.
The DMK wrested the seat from the AIADMK in the 2021 elections and won by a margin of 9573 votes. The Naam Tamilar Katchi polled 8216 votes and came a distant third.
“The DMK has deployed over nine Ministers and a Member of Parliament in Vikravandi and this only shows the fear of their party candidate losing here,” a PMK functionary said.
Minister for Higher Education and party strongman K. Ponmudi who has been leading the campaign, however, is confident of a win by a big margin. At most public meetings, he maintains that the DMK had executed several welfare schemes and development is the key issue here.
“The result was a foregone conclusion. The DMK will win with a huge majority,” a party leader said.
DMK candidate Anniyur Siva and PMK candidate C. Anbumani.
Speaking to The Hindu, DMK candidate Mr. Siva said the former MLA N. Pugazhenthi had contributed immensely to the constituency’s development. “I will implement works that have been left out. The campaign has received an overwhelming response from the people, especially women expressing satisfaction about various welfare schemes implemented by the Government headed by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.”
Mr. Siva said estimates had been prepared for the long-pending Nandan Canal project and that he would prevail upon the Government for the early implementation of the project that would benefit both Villupuram and Tiruvannamalai districts.
Issues in the constituency
Mr C. Anbumani said he will focus on fulfilling the basic needs of the constituency. There is no infrastructure development and unemployment has also been on the rise over the years. “I will strive to take up the speedy implementation of the long-pending Nandan Canal project to address water woes of farmers in the region.” According to him, he had played a major role in the victory of the AIADMK candidate in the 2019 byelections in Vikravandi. Though the AIADMK is not contesting this time the voters will vote for me in the upcoming election, he said
