TTV Dhinakaran washes away DMK, AIADMK in bypoll

Chennai: In a major embarrassment to the ruling AIADMK, party rebel T.T.V. Dhinakaran, who entered the fray as an independent candidate, succeeded J. Jayalalithaa as the RK Nagar MLA in style on Sunday as he swept the high-stakes by-poll with a record margin of 40,707 votes.

If the election result showed chief minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and his deputy O. Panneerselvam, who staked his entire political prestige in this election, in poor light, the principal Opposition party DMK suffered a body blow with its candidate N. Marudhu Gan-esh forfeiting his deposit amount after failing to garner one-sixth of the total votes polled.

Almost all political parties, including the DMK, credited Mr Dhinakaran’s victory to the money power that swamped the backward constituency in the run-up to the December 21 polls with the Leader of Opposition M.K. Stalin terming it as the “biggest defeat of the Election Commission” which, he accused of, turning a blind eye to rampant distribution of cash for votes by the two factions of AIADMK.

Interestingly, the EPS-OPS smelled a secret alliance between M.K. Stalin and Dhinakaran in the polls to “wipe out” the AIADMK. “The victory that has been achieved due to the joint conspiracy by DMK and Mr Dhinakaran by cheating the people will have no bearing on the AIADMK,” Mr Palaniswami and Panneerselvam said in a joint statement.

Political observers said Mr Dhinakaran’s “confidence and his public touch” coupled with the money power that he allegedly unleashed in the constituency fuelled his impressive win from the constituency despite contesting on “obscure” symbol that was given to him at the last minute.

They said the victory was a sweet revenge that Dhinakaran took on EPS-OPS duo since he scored a spectacular victory in the former constituency of Jayalalithaa, whose legacy the duo claims to have inherited. The AIADMK also had the magical “two leaves” symbol by its side, but it failed to display the magnetism.

Mr Dhinakaran also created history by emerging as the first independent candidate to win a byelection in recent history in Tamil Nadu and garnered more than 50 per cent of the total votes polled on December 21. While Mr Dhinakaran polled 89,013 votes, AIADMK candidate Madhusudhanan scored 48,306 and Marudhu Ganesh 24,651.

The humiliation for the ruling AIADMK was complete when Mr Dhinakaran’s margin of 40,707 votes exceeded the difference of votes – 39,545 – with which Jayalalithaa romped home in the constituency in the summer of 2016.

Mr Dhinakaran’s stunning victory in R.K. Nagar, represented twice by Jayalalithaa, could spell trouble for the government, which according to opposition parties is already in a minority in the state Assembly, with intense speculation doing the rounds that many MLAs, who were sitting on the fence, planning to jump ship and join the TTV camp. And the migration almost began immediately with Vellore MP Senguttuvan meeting Mr Dhinakaran after he emerged victorious.

Touted as the first acid test for the EPS-OPS duo, the election results would only increase the chorus for a floor test in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. DMK, Congress and even Dhinakaran have been demanding that governor Banwarilal Purohit convene the Assembly and direct Palaniswami to prove his majority on the floor of the House. While the EPS-OPS faction now has the support of 113 MLAs, five short of the magic number of 118, the DMK has 89 seats, Congress 8 and IUML 1. Speaker P. Dhanapal, whose action has been challenged in the Madras high court, disqualified 18 MLAs owing allegiance to Dhinakaran in September.

“Voters have decided to put an end to the anti-people government in Tamil Nadu. I thank the people of R.K. Nagar for giving us this victory on behalf of the people of Tamil Nadu. The victory reflects the sentiments of Tamil Nadu and I thank the 1.5 crore cadre of my party,” Mr Dhinakaran told reporters.