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J Jayalalithaa's niece Deepa to contest April 12 by-poll for RK Nagar

The by-election will be crucial for all the political parties in the state particularly for the two factions of AIADMK led by General Secretary VK Sasikala, former chief minister O Panneerselvam and Deepa Jayakumar, as it is the first election to be held after the death of Jayalalithaa.

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Deepa Jayakumar, late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s niece
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Late chief minister and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa's niece Deepa Jayakumar on Thursday announced that she would contest the April 12 bypoll for the RK Nagar Assembly constituency which was represented by her aunt.

Her announcement came hours after the Election Commission of India declared the bypoll for the RK Nagar seat for which the filing of nomination begins on March 16. The by-election will be crucial for all the political parties in the state particularly for the two factions of AIADMK led by General Secretary VK Sasikala, former chief minister O Panneerselvam and Deepa Jayakumar, as it is the first election to be held after the death of Jayalalithaa.

"I am confident that people of RK Nagar will support me in the same way they supported Amma. I will win with a huge margin," Deepa who has floated 'MGR Amma Deepa Peravai' said.

The bypoll will be the first litmus test for the Edappadi K Palaniswami government in Tamil Nadu, which had narrowly won the trust motion last month. With Deepa and Panneerselvam staking claim for the political legacy of Jayalalithaa, the lot is at stake for Sasikala's camp, led by her nephew and deputy party general secretary TTV Dinakaran and Chief Minister Palaniswami to ensure the party's victory to establish themselves as the 'real' AIADMK.

Sources in OPS camp said that they are likely to name the party's presidium chairman E Madhusudanan, an MGR-era politician and staunch loyalist of Jayalalithaa, as the candidate for the RK Nagar seat which he had represented. "Madhusudanan being a local man was well known across the constituency as a loyalist of Amma. He will be a winning candidate," said a senior leader in the OPS camp. However, he said that no final decision was taken on the candidate.

Expressing confidence that AIADMK would win with a thumping majority, Dinakaran said that the candidate for the bypoll will be announced at the party's Parliamentary Board meeting. When asked whether he would contest the poll, he did not dismiss it but added that the candidate will be decided by the Parliamentary Board.

The DMK has invited applications from party cadres who wish to contest the bypoll from March 10 to 12. A senior DMK leader said that his party has very good chance of winning the seat with AIADMK votes set to split three ways. He pointed out that Jayalalithaa won the by-election to the seat with a margin of 1.5 lakh votes in 2015, but in May 2016 she won with 39,000 votes.

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