The political course of the AIADMK which is in power in Tamil Nadu, has hit another road bump with its expelled leader TTV Dhinakaran winning the Assembly seat as an independent candidate in the RK Nagar constituency by-poll.
His initial reaction as he gained a convincing lead over the AIADMK candidate was that “this reflects the people’s demand State-wide for a change in government.”.
This clearly indicates that the political uncertainty following the death of former Chief Minister and AIADMK General Secretary J Jayalalithaa in December 2016, continues.
The stage was set early in the morning when results of the first round of counting started.
Dhinakaran took an early lead and continued to outstrip all the contestants through the 19 rounds of counting that went on till evening. Over 1.76 lakh voters, about 77 per cent, had cast their votes on December 21. There were 59 contestants on the field.
Dhinakaran’s supporters started gathering outside his residence from morning, and the crowds continued to swell through the day. By about 10.30 am, within a couple of hours of the start of counting, they started celebrating.
It was party time for the cadres as news poured in of Dhinakaran’s continuously increasing lead.
Garlands of firecrackers were set off, women supporters danced in joy, slogans shouted proclaiming him the next Chief Minister, the successor to the legacy of Jayalalithaa. By about 11 am, it was clear that the winning trend is unlikely to change.
Blow to OPS-EPSCadres shouted slogans against Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneer Selvam (OPS). They wanted EPS to step down.
History repeated?“Now, one by one, MLAs from OPS-EPS side will come to TTV side,” said one of the women cadres who had gathered in front of TTV’s house. “This is how AIADMK founder MGR won the election — by fielding an independent candidate in Dindigul after his exit from the DMK. So, he (Dhinakaran) will soon take over as the head of AIADMK,” crowed a supporter.
In 1973 May by-election to the Dindigul Lok Sabha constituency, AIADMK candidate Mayathevar had won the election by a huge margin.
Dhinakaran ,who was away in Madurai, flew back to Chennai around 12.30 pm and proceeded to the memorials of MGR and Jayalalithaa. His win coincides with the 30th death anniversary of MGR.
“The win in RK Nagar is proof that the people and cadres of the AIADMK support Dhinakaran. A number of MLAs of the EPS-OPS camp is in touch with us,” saidAndipatti MLA and TTV supporter Thanga Tamilselvan, addressing the media gathered outside TTV’s house.
Traffic on the Beach Road in the city stalled as dozens of cars and SUVs followed Dhinakaran.
Vote countDhinakaran has certainly set a mark in RK Nagar, winning more than half the votes polled and totalling more than all the votes secured by the rest of the contestants. Except for him and AIADMK candidate E Madhusudhanan, all the candidates lost their deposits.
Dhinakaran bagged about 89,000 votes, Madhusudhanan 48,300, DMK’s Marudhu Ganesh 24,600 and BJP’s Karu Nagarajan 1,400.
The power struggle for the control of the AIADMK and the government, which returned to power in 2016 Assembly elections, is likely to continue.