Tamil Nadu voters to choose in two five-way Assembly bypolls
Voters in Tamil Nadu’s reserved Madurantakam and Dharapuram constituencies are due to cast ballots on October 6 in contests involving the DMK, AIADMK, TVK, NTK and the Left Front. The vacancies arose after AIADMK legislators resigned and joined the ruling TVK; counting is scheduled for October 9.
Tamil Nadu is set to hold byelections in the reserved Madurantakam and Dharapuram Assembly constituencies on October 6, with counting scheduled for October 9. Both seats are witnessing five-cornered contests involving the DMK, AIADMK, ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, Naam Tamilar Katchi and the Left Front. The vacancies arose after AIADMK MLAs Maragatham Kumaravel of Madurantakam and P.
Sathyabama of Dharapuram resigned on May 25, shortly before joining the TVK. Both had won their seats on the AIADMK’s Two Leaves symbol in the April 23 Assembly election. In Madurantakam, the DMK has fielded I.
Paranthamen, its legal wing deputy secretary and a former Egmore MLA. The AIADMK candidate is former legislator Kanitha Sampath, while the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has nominated P. Suganthi for the Left Front.
TVK leader and Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay announced Maragatham Kumaravel as the party’s candidate. The NTK has nominated Janakiraman.
Madurantakam, in Chengalpattu district, is a Scheduled Caste-reserved constituency with a sizeable Scheduled Caste population and a primarily agrarian economy in which rice is the main crop. Dharapuram, in Tiruppur district, is also reserved for Scheduled Castes. The TVK has nominated P.
Sathyabama, while the AIADMK candidate is K. Bhanumathi and the NTK candidate is M. Karthika.
The DMK has fielded S. Suganya, and the CPI has nominated P. Lakshmanan for the Left Front.
About a quarter of Dharapuram’s population belongs to Scheduled Castes, and nearly 60% of voters live in rural areas, according to the supplied profile. The constituency has relatively low rainfall and groundwater overuse in several areas. The Amaravathi River is also affected by wastewater discharge from the municipality and other local bodies.
In the 2021 Assembly election, DMK candidate Kayalvizhi N. Selvaraj defeated BJP rival L. Murugan by 1,393 votes.
NOTA received 1,904 votes in that contest.
Vertrix News compared the attributed reports listed below and wrote this independent synthesis. Claims remain attributed where independent verification was unavailable.