The election for the RK Nagar constituency in Chennai, which fell vacant after the death of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa in December last year will be held on December 21.
A day after allotting the two leaves symbol to the unified AIADMK headed by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisami and Deputy CM O Panneerselvam, the Election Commission of India on Friday announced that the long-delayed by-election to the Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar Assembly constituency which was held by late CM J Jayalalithaa would be held on December 21.
For the 10-month old Palanisami government, the by-election to the crucial RK Nagar constituency would be its first test of popularity. The seat fell vacant after the sudden demise of Jayalalithaa on December 5 last year. Even though the RK Nagar constituency in North Chennai is a traditional stronghold of the AIADMK, it is all the more crucial for the ruling dispensation to win the polls to claim the political legacy of Jayalalithaa.
The commission had rescinded the by-poll scheduled on April 12 two days before the polling citing distribution of money power and other allurements in the constituency.
The by-election comes after the merger of the Palansiami and the Panneerselvam camps in August this year. The unified AIADMK may retain the party praesidium chairman E. Madhusudanan who was the candidate of the Panneerselvam camp in the April 12 cancelled by-poll. Besides, it would be seen as a referendum on the popularity of the Palanisami government by the opposition parties.
After losing the symbol, TTV Dinakaran, nephew of jailed VK Sasikala, announced that he would contest the RK Nagar by-poll as his factions enjoy the support of the party cadres. Madras High Court hearing petition challenging disqualification of 18 MLAs owing allegiance to Dinakaran.
Jayalalithaa’s niece J. Deepa who floated her own party MGR Jayalalithaa Deepa Peravai contested the April 12 by-poll claiming the political legacy of her aunt. With the three-way split in the Jayalalithaa's legacy, an interesting contest is on the card in the by-poll which is traditionally won by the ruling party in Tamil Nadu.
It would be interesting to see how the opposition parties would face the December 21 by-election. Whether the DMK, the principal opposition parties, would be able to bring together opposition parties against the ruling AIADMK which is toeing the lines of the BJP government at the centre. Irrespective of opposition parties coming together, DMK is certainly in advantageous position considering the ruling AIADMK government's performance in the last 10 months. DMK would be retaining journalist turned politician Marudhu Ganesh as its candidate for the by-poll. CPI (M) which broke ranks with its ally CPI and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi to field its candidate for the cancelled April 12 by-poll as it sticks to its stand of keeping an equal distance from both AIADMK and DMK. However, the Marxist party started moving closer to the DMK after AIADMK ‘s growing proximity with the saffron party. Interestingly, the BJP had fielded the film music composer Ilayaraja’s brother Gangai Amaran.
The RK Nagar constituency is considered to be a stronghold of the ruling party as it had returned seven AIADMK candidates in 11 elections. Jayalalithaa had won the seat twice.
After being disqualified following the conviction in the disproportionate assets case in September 2014, Jayalalithaa contested the June 2015 by-poll to the RK Nagar seat after the Karnataka High Court acquitted her. She again contested from the seat in May 2016.
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