Chennai: The Election Commission recently announced that the by-election for Thiruparankundram and Thiruvarur constituencies will not be conducted anytime soon due to the rainy season. While the rain is said to be the reason behind the delay, political observers say that there is more politics involved in stopping this election than conducting it.
Chidamabaram factor
During a recent meeting organised to mourn the demise of former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram spoke about the ‘inability of the Election Commission to conduct by-polls in Tamilnadu’ in a fair manner bringing bad name to the election body. It is also said that a report sent from the Congress also said that if the by-poll is conducted in the State now, people will lose their faith in the Election Commission which has also made the ECI think twice before announcing the bypoll.
Alagiri’s uprise
Sources said a report submitted to Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswmi has stated that if the by-poll for these two constituencies are conducted now, AIADMK will win in the Thiurparankundram constituency, however there are high chances for expelled DMK leader M K Alagiri to emerge victorious in Thiruvarur.
“This is not a good sign as, if Alagiri proves his power before the Lok Sabha election it may lead to the merger of the DMK which will once again affect the AIADMK. Similarly the report also stated that Dhinakaran’s AMMK will secure second position in Thirupparankundram pushing DMK to the third position. This is also not a healthy sign for the AIADMK. Only after considering all these factor the decision to postpone the election should have been taken,” said a party cadres on condition on anonymity
Stalin’s tactics
Though Stalin has said the reason said by the EC to postpone the election does not appear to be a unbiased and justifiable decision, DMK sources said it is actually quiet a welcome move especially after the loss in RK Nagar bypoll.
“With Alagiri testing Stalin’s leadership time and again, Stalin cannot afford to lose one more election now which will put a big question mark on his leadership. On the other hand, Stalin’s major focus is on the local body election in which DMK seems to have an upper hand. We got 27 per cent votes in 2011 local body election and this number is expected to go up in the coming days,” the source added.
Rain no reason
Stlain has stated that by-elections had been held in the State in the past during the North East Monsoon season, between October-December. The by-poll for RK Nagar constituency, held to fill the vacancy caused by the death of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, was conducted only during the monsoon season in December last year.
He also pointed out that bypolls for three assembly constituencies in the state when Jayalalithaa was hospitalised in 2016 were also held during monsoon season in November.
What EC said
The Election Commission while announcing poll schedule for five states and by-elections in Karnataka Saturday had said Tamilnadu Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan had written a letter asking the commission not to announce the poll dates as
there was forecast of cyclones and rains in the state.
Bypolls are due in Thiruvarur and Thirupparankundram assembly constituencies which fell vacant following the Karunanidhi on 7 August and AIADMK MLA AK Bose on 2 August respectively. Chief Election Commissioner O P Rawat had said the EC would announce the bypoll after ascertaining the situation.
| Red alert rumours |
| The red alert which was issued in the State was withdrawn recently. This has led to people talking about if there was actually a red alert or was it a move to make sure that the Election Commission postpones the by election in the State. |