Congress candidate A. Johnkumar won the assembly byelection in Kamaraj Nagar constituency in Puducherry by 7,171 votes. While Congress bagged 60.8 per cent votes polled, the opposition AINRC could get only 31.3 per cent of the votes. With the win, Congress had regained its assembly strength of 15.
"I thank people for giving a big mandate and making me win. My first priority will be to provide basic necessities to people. I also congratulate my opponents who worked hard but couldn't win," said Johnkumar after winning the election.
The outcome of the byelection held on October 21 for Kamaraj Nagar assembly constituency was considered a litmus test for the performance of the Congress government since its formation in 2016, according to observers. Observers had pointed out that the result would have a bearing on the future of both the Congress and the AINRC particulary in the 2021 assembly polls.
The percentage of polling during the byelection was 69.44 which was less than the percentage of polling registered in the 2016 election to the territorial assembly by nearly seven per cent.
The frequent turf war between the Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy and the Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi on various administrative issues had virtually left the people in the Union Territory dispirited. Mutual accusations, including the latest one relating to failure to use helmets, on the part of both the Lt Governor and the Chief Minister involved much of the time of the two constitutional functionaries.
The strength of the Congress in the wake of the polls held in 2016 was 15 in the assembly, which totally has 30 elected and three nominated members. When the incumbent legislator of Kamaraj Nagar V. Vaithilingam (Congress) quit the post following his election to Lok Sabha in April this year the Congress` strength came down to 14 and the government enjoys the crucial support of the three-member DMK from the outside.
The strength of the AINRC in the 2016 Assembly poll was eight, but after one of its legislators Ashok Anand was disqualified in November last year after he was convicted in a CBI case relating to alleged amassing of assets disproportionate to known sources of income the AINRC strength came down to seven.
The AINRC has as its alliance partner the Bharatiya Janata Party (which has three nominated members in the Assembly) in the Lok Sabha poll held in April, the byelections held in Thattanchavady simultaneously with parliamentary poll and in the recent byelection in Kamaraj Nagar.
The byelection was a 'prestige fight' between the Congress and AINRC in general and between the Chief Minister and founder of the AINRC N Rangasamy who is also opposition leader in particular. Rangasamy was seen engaging himself in the poll campaign seeking support for the AINRC nominee S. Bhuvaneswarane along with the leaders of the AIADMK and other likeminded parties more vigorously than virtually in any of the polls held before.
(WIth PTI inputs)