Even as the factional feud in the AIADMK has reached a feverish pitch, the highly anticipated byelection to Thiruparankundram and Thiruvarur constituencies are not likely to be held in the near future. Election Commissioner Om Prakash Rawat, who announced the dates for the assembly elections in five states on Saturday, said Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan had written to the commission, urging that the elections be conducted at a late period, citing the oncoming monsoon and cyclone.
“Tamil Nadu will have no byelections now. The chief secretary has written to the commission saying that there are heavy to very heavy rains predicted. So, we are not announcing the dates now,” said Rawat. He also mentioned about the pending election case which is due for hearing in the Madras High Court on October 23. DMK candidate P. Saravanan had moved court, challenging the victory of AIADMK MLA late A.K. Bose. In November 2016, soon after the victory of Bose was announced, Saravanan moved the court, seeking that the victory of Bose be declared null and void.
Thiruvarur constituency seat fell vacant after the demise of DMK leader M. Karunanidhi. A DMK stronghold, the party is likely to retain the constituency in the next election, even as it will flex muscles to humble the ruling AIADMK and its rebel leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran, who commands a chunk of Thevar votes in the constituency.
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While the monsoon and the election case are the obvious reasons, the political crisis, which is looming large in the state, and the ongoing factional feud in the AIADMK, are also cited as reasons for not holding the polls by political observers. While the ruling AIADMK went ahead with strategising and ground level preparations in Thiruparankundram, the EC not announcing the dates has sent a strong message among the ruling party cadres. With power crisis within the ruling AIADMK looming large, every day developments and the barbs thrown by the seniors against every other leader have put in the party in a fix.
Meanwhile, a favourable verdict in the case of disqualification of 18 MLAs, which is pending in the High Court, could be yet another game changer in the state politics. Already a minority, with over 24 MLAs revolting against the verdict in the case could even end up with the AIADMK being out of power. In such a scenario, the state will automatically witness an assembly election in 2019 along with the Lok Sabha polls.
However, the political developments in the state in the past few days and the high profile meetings between AIADMK seniors and BJP functionaries indicate the uneasiness prevailing among the ruling AIADMK seniors. It may be recalled that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami had held marathon meetings with his party seniors and with BJP’s Pon Radhakrishnan and later called on Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Wednesday. In fact, a day after the meeting, the governor had made startling revelations on how the higher education department in the state is corrupt and how bribes were paid for appointment of vice chancellors to universities.
Meanwhile, the chief minister will be in Delhi on Sunday or Monday to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Even as the PMO is yet to grant an appointment to the chief minister, the latter's decision to meet the PM is considered significant by AIADMK leaders.
