Chennai: The July 10 by-election to the Vikravandi Assembly constituency will see a straight fight between the ruling DMK and the BJP’s ally, the PMK, as the AIADMK pulled out of the race on Saturday blaming the DMK of misusing its official power to indulge in irregularities in the just concluded Lok Sabha polls.
After a meeting with top party honchos, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami announced that it would boycott the by-election but expressed the confidence of sweeping the 2026 general election to the State Assembly with an overwhelming majority.
So DMK’s Anniyur Siva, whose name was the first to be announced as a candidate in the by-election, and PMK’s C Anbumani, who was nominated for the contest on Saturday by his party President Anbumani Ramadoss, will be the main contenders with Naam Tamilar Katchi nominee Abinaya too in the race.
Though it is common for opposition parties to boycott by-elections, Palaniswami’s announcement comes after his bete noire and breakaway faction leader O Panneerselvam threw a challenge to him. Panneerselvam had asked if Palaniswami wanted to lose the by-election by contesting it as a fragmented party or win it by uniting all the rival factions, including his own.
He even recalled that the united AIADMK had won the by-election in the same constituency in 2019, suggesting that by roping in the breakaway groups and taking on the DMK as a united force, it could win. But for Palaniswami, re-admitting Panneerselvam and other leaders like V K Sasikala and T T V Dhinakaran is an anathema.
It is learnt that the AIADMK was looking for a candidate who could take on the DMK effectively and could not find one. The party leaders did not find R Muthamizhselvan, who defeated the DMK in the 2019 by-election, capable of repeating that victory now with the DMK having grown very powerful electorally.
So, it is very likely to be an acrimonious battle in Vikravandi since the PMK had taken upon itself the task of defeating the DMK. The party evinced interest in fighting the by-election in the Vanniyar belt and discussed the issue with other allies in the NDA. It was the BJP State President K Annamalai who said that the seat had been allocated to the PMK, urging his party workers to work for the victory of the PMK candidate.
In all likelihood, a considerable number of AIADMK supporters could also now support PMK’s Ramadoss in the by-election, which would make it a tough fight for the DMK.
