Chief minister J. Jayalalithaa to campaign in Yercaud for the Assembly by-poll.
Chennai: Chief minister and AIADMK General Secretary J Jayalalithaa will campaign in Yercaud on Thursday (Nov 28) for the Assembly by-election being held on December 4. She will address election meetings at nine places in the ST constituency of 2,40,290 voters, 1,21,094 of them being women.
An AIADMK statement said the party chief would start her campaign at Minnampalli and conclude the whirlwind trip at Udayappatti. The by-election was caused by the death of AIADMK candidate C Perumal, whose wife P Saroja is now the party candidate.
Considering the many welfare measures initiated by the government and Jayalalithaa’s personal charisma, her party lieutenants exude confidence that the party would be able to score a victory margin larger than in 2011 state poll, when Perumal won by a whopping margin of 37,582 votes. The AIADMK had won in Yercaud five times since MGR launched the party in 1977. Even when the party got split after his death, the Jayalalithaa faction won in the 1989 election.
Interestingly, the main opposition party, DMDK led by actor Vijayakanth, chose not to contest in this by-election.
Even some party seniors have been taken by surprise by their Captain’s decision since the party contested in all by-elections since he launched it in 2005 and performed fairly well
Also, the Congress is yet to announce its support in Yercaud though there are rumours that the party would return to DMK alliance in the 2014 Lok Sabha poll. Another ‘silent zone’ is the PMK, which has some support in this area but chose to keep off the by-poll battle.
DMK president M Karunanidhi had recently said he would not be able to campaign in Yercaud in view of his health. His son and party treasurer M K Stalin is expected to arrive in Yercaud during month-end to lead the DMK campaign.
( Source : dc )
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