Tomorrow, Tamil Nadu votes in the by-elections nobody needed

On Tuesday, two Tamil Nadu Assembly constituencies — Madurantakam in Chengalpattu district and Dharapuram in Tiruppur district — will vote in by-elections that have become the first real electoral test of the three-month-old TVK government. Campaigning ended on Sunday evening, and the stage is set for an unusually crowded five-way contest with 49 candidates in the fray: 27 in Madurantakam and 22 in Dharapuram. Counting will take place on October 9. The polls were forced by two resignations. P. Sathyabama of Dharapuram and Maragatham Kumaravel of Madurantakam won on AIADMK tickets in the April Assembly election, resigned on May 25 — less than three weeks after entering the Assembly — and joined the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam. Both now recontest the very seats they vacated, this time as TVK candidates. The unusual sequence has drawn sharp criticism from the opposition, with the DMK's Udhayanidhi Stalin accusing Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay of "buying MLAs, not votes" and the AMMK's TTV Dhinakaran calling the TVK government "a curse for Tamil Nadu". The TVK has thrown its full organisational weight behind the contests, assigning several ministers to oversee operations. Vijay, who kept a low profile during the last Assembly election, campaigned prominently this time, holding public meetings and lengthy roadshows in both constituencies. On the final day of campaigning in Dharapuram, he launched a sharp attack on the DMK, warning that he would not remain silent if women in his family or political circle faced personal attacks. The DMK is contesting under its Secular Progressive Alliance banner, with party president M. K. Stalin, Udhayanidhi Stalin and Kanimozhi Karunanidhi all campaigning. The AIADMK-led National Democratic Alliance, the Left parties contesting independently, and Naam Tamilar Katchi complete the five-way field. The campaign's final days also saw tempers rise: AIADMK cadres staged a sit-in outside the Dharapuram police station on October 4 protesting the detention of their rural district secretary Selvakumar. Vijay had begun his Madurantakam push on October 2 at Mamandur on GST Road, travelling through nearly 40 villages in a single roadshow. The government has declared a public holiday on Tuesday in both constituencies, and employees registered as voters there will get a paid holiday even if they work in neighbouring districts. For the TVK, the stakes go beyond two seats: the results will be read as the electorate's verdict on its first three months in power — and on a government that manufactured the very election it must now win.