CHENNAI/PUDUCHERRY : The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday announced bye-elections to the reserved Assembly constituencies of Madurantakam and Dharapuram in TN and Thattanchavady constituency in Puducherry on October 6.
The TN seats fell vacant after AIADMK MLAs Maragatham Kumaravel and P Sathyabama resigned and subsequently joined the ruling TVK. Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy had resigned as MLA of the Thattanchavady constituency in May and retained the Mangalam seat after winning both the constituencies in the April 9 Assembly polls.
The filing of nominations will begin on September 9, with September 16 being the last date. Scrutiny will be held on September 17, and candidates can withdraw their nominations till September 19. Counting will take place on October 9.
Seven Assembly constituencies in TN are currently vacant. A senior ECI official said election petitions are pending in five constituencies — Tiruchy (East), Perundurai, Ambasamudram, Viralimalai and Karur — and hence bypolls have not been announced there.
TVK may field Kumaravel in Madurantakam bye-election
Kumaravel and Sathyabama had won the Madurantakam and Dharapuram seats, respectively, as AIADMK candidates. They resigned as MLAs on May 26 and later joined the TVK. Kumaravel is now one of the TVK’s deputy general secretaries and is likely to be fielded in Madurantakam. Sathyabama holds TVK’s Tiruppur South-East district secretary post.
The five election petitions were filed challenging the victories of C Joseph Vijay from Tiruchy (East), S Jayakumar from Perundurai, C Vijayabaskar from Viralimalai, M R Vijayabaskar from Karur and Esakki Subaya from Ambasamudram.
The petitions broadly seek the setting aside of the winners’ elections and, in some cases, a declaration that the respective petitioners be declared elected.
The latter relief assumes significance, as the Madras High Court has observed that holding a by-election while an election petition is pending could potentially result in two persons being declared elected from the same constituency. S Inigo Irudayaraj has challenged Vijay’s election from Tiruchy (East), alleging suppression of material information and irregularities in election expenditure and campaigning.
Thoppu N D Venkatachalam has challenged Jayakumar’s election from Perundurai, while K K Chellapandian has challenged C Vijayabaskar’s election from Viralimalai, alleging, among other things, the distribution of coupons promising household appliances and cash to voters.
The elections of M R Vijayabaskar from Karur and Esakki Subaya from Ambasamudram have also been challenged through petitions pending before the Madras High Court.
The ECI had told the Madras High Court on August 24 that it did not intend to hold by-elections in the five constituencies until the pending election petitions are disposed of.
