Close on the heels of the principal opposition AIADMK and its ally,
DMDK, announcing boycott of the February 5, bypoll to the Erode East
assembly constituency, the BJP-led NDA too followed suit, staying away
from the electoral contest on the pretext that the ruling DMK will not
allow a fair and free poll.
Belying expectation that the saffron party will enter the hustings
against the DMK, which has named its candidate, BJP state president K
Annamalai on Sunday said the NDA is not contesting the election. In a
statement released on behalf of the NDA in the state, he said “In 2023
bypoll, the constituency witnessed the electorate being confined to
shelters like cattle and everyone encountered the DMK, intoxicated by
power, violating election rules. Now, the NDA is not prepared to allow
the DMK to once again confine the public in shelters like cattle.”
The NDA is focused on unseating the DMK from power and is working
towards that goal, he said adding that this decision to boycott the
bypoll was arrived at after consultations with the constituents of the
NDA in Tamil Nadu. Earlier in the day, BJP functionaries held a
brainstorming in the city on whether to contest the bypoll or not.
Besides the BJP, the NDA comprises smaller parties like the OBC
Vanniyar-dominant Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), the Tamil Maanila
Congress (TMC) of GK Vasan, Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) of
TTV Dhinakaran.
The bypoll is being held due to the death of Congress veteran and
former Union Minister EVKS Elangovan last month. He was elected in the
bypoll in 2023, following the demise of his son, Evera Thirumagan.
Riding on the shoulders of the DMK, he won the seat by a record
margin. All the others who were in the fray, including the AIADMK
candidate, lost their deposit. Surprisingly, the Tamil nationalist
Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) of Seeman, retained its vote share of around
8 per cent.
With the Opposition, barring the NTK, boycotting the bypoll, it is a
cakewalk for the DMK, which has taken the seat from Congress. The
national party too had agreed to the request of the DMK, heading the
INDIA Bloc in the state in the hope of a better bargain in the 2026
assembly election. The DMK has fielded VC Chandirakumar, a senior
party functionary.
In Tamil Nadu, where elections have become highly monetised,
byelections are no more the barometer to gauge the government’s
performance or a verdict on the ruling party. Since the 90s, it is the
ruling party which annexes any seat for which byelection is held. It
has become practice for the ruling dispensation to deploy the entire
cabinet for electioneering in the constituency. Only in 2019, the
opposition DMK had won 13 out of the 22 seats for which byelections
were held along with the Lok Sabha elections. It was considered a
mini-assembly poll and the AIADMK government of Edappadi K Palaniswami
had survived a scare and secured a majority following the split by TTV
Dhinakaran.