One of the answers the coming bypolls to 20 Assembly constituencies may provide is whether actors Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth are serious about their political plunge and the number of votes they command.
While Rajinikanth is yet to even launch a party and had said he would contest "the next Assembly polls" it is not clear if the actor would have a change of mind since the bypolls for the 20 seats would be considered as a "mini-assembly poll". On the other hand, Kamal Haasan recently said his party would contest the bypolls.
For these two players, the bypolls may be a chance to really test whether their popular image really transforms into votes and also their ability to carry forward an electoral campaign.
Political analyst Tharasu Shyam says that Kamal Haasan''s confidence would be from the fact that it would take at least six months for the Election Commission to conduct the bypolls and it may be held only with the Lok Sabha polls.
Raveendran Duraisamy, a political observer, says, "Whether he wins or not, he will be a crowd puller during the campaign. Perhaps, he wants to know the original strength by contesting the bypoll."
Meanwhile, DMDK, which was founded by actor Vijayakanth, has also made it clear the party will contest the bypolls and a functionary of the party said their motive was to prove that they are still the "third largest party in the State."