Chennai: Reclaiming the Two Leaves symbol, is for sure, a shot in the arm for Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and his deputy O. Panneerselvam, but the Election Commission order will also exert pressure on the ruling camp to win the prestigious RK Nagar constituency that will go to bypolls by the end of this year.
For more than one reason, the bypolls to RK Nagar constituency which is likely to be held before Christmas will serve as the acid test for the EPS-OPS duo since this is the first elections that the AIADMK will face after the demise of its charismatic leader J. Jayalalithaa last December. While the ruling combine will face the elections in the name of Jayalalithaa, the Opposition would convert it into a referendum on the functioning of the AIADMK government for the past one-year.
With the magical Two Leaves symbol back with the AIADMK, political analysts say, the Chief Minister and his deputy will have no excuse to justify if they don’t reap political dividends in the bypolls. And more importantly winning RK Nagar is politically crucial and prestigious for the AIADMK since Jayalalithaa had represented the seat twice and for the fact that the constituency has always been a pocket borough of the ruling party.
“Definitely, there will be pressure on the unified AIADMK to win the RK Nagar polls and the ruling camp has the advantage of the symbol. And it can breathe a little easy since there will be only one AIADMK this time in the seat since Dhinakaran would enter the fray only as an independent or as nominee of a smaller party,” political commentator Gnani Sankaran told DC.
The AIADMK will also face the now resurgent DMK, which is likely to field Marudhu Ganesh who was the candidate in the April 12 elections that was cancelled, in the bypolls and may have to walk the extra mile in reaching out to the voters since it has one more opponent in the form of Dhinakaran.
Political observers say it would not be fair to dismiss Dhinakaran, as a “small fry” since he is already known to the electorate in the constituency. Bernard D’ Sami,
Professor at the prestigious Loyola College, said the elections would decide whether it is the symbol that garnered votes for the AIADMK or it was the personality i.e. Jayalalithaa.
“There will be pressure on the EPS-OPS duo and the results of the elections will be significant. This will also determine whether the symbol matters or the personality that matters in elections. This goes much beyond the symbol,” D’ Sami said.
