The curtain came down on the high-voltage campaigns in Nanguneri in Tirunelveli district and Vikravandi in Villupuram district on Saturday, ahead of the byelections to these constituencies on October 21.
Arch-rivals the AIADMK and the DMK hit the campaign trail hard, with party leaders trading barbs, charges and counter-charges in the run-up to the bypolls, which could give a hint on voter preferences for the next Assembly election in 2021.
While the AIADMK, led by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, roped in Ministers and senior party leaders, the DMK’s campaign was led by its president M.K. Stalin and his son and party youth wing leader Udhayanidhi Stalin.
In Vikravandi, none of the AIADMK heavyweights campaigned on the final day of electioneering. DMDK leader Vijayakant hit the campaign trail on Saturday, but spoke only a few words at the first point of his road show. Seated in his van, he appealed to the people to vote for the AIADMK candidate in the bypoll.
Mr. Stalin, on the other hand, campaigned for the second day from Thiruvamathur and went around Orathur and Mundiyambakkam, before ending his campaign in Vikravandi. Accusing the AIADMK regime of being the “most corrupt”, he appealed to the voters to teach the ruling party a “fitting lesson” in the bypoll.
AIADMK candidate and realtor V. Narayanan concluded his campaign at Nanguneri, along with about a dozen Ministers. Here too, the AIADMK deployed a set of Ministers, MPs, MLAs and senior figures.
Mr. Palaniswami’s campaign was lengthy but intense, and mainly targeted Mr. Stalin, dynastic politics and corruption during the DMK’s rule. Interestingly, the AIADMK completely sidelined its ally, the BJP, during the campaign as Nanguneri has a sizeable number of Muslim and Christian voters.
Meanwhile, the Congress party was upbeat on its prospects as it had the solid backing of the DMK in the Nanguneri constituency. Mr. Stalin had campaigned in the constituency for four days, besides meeting villagers during the thinnai prasaaram events. TNCC president K.S. Alagiri’s presence gave a fillip to the cadre in the final leg of the campaign. On the final day of campaigning, Congress candidate ‘Ruby’ R. Manoharan concluded his electioneering at Kalakkad.
