CHENNAI: All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on Saturday announced to boycott the Vikravandi Assembly constituency by-polls that are scheduled for July 10. The Vikravandi Assembly constituency by-polls are scheduled for July 10, which was necessitated by the untimely demise of DMK MLA Pugazhenthi in April.
Former Tamil Nadu CM and AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami attacked the DMK government and alleged that DMK will indulge in “violence, money power” and that the elections will not be conducted freely and fairly. “The ruling party, DMK, will indulge in violence, money power and will not give people the freedom to cast their votes. Elections will not be conducted freely and fairly, so AIADMK is boycotting this election,” Palaniswami said.
AIADMK senior leader and former Tamil Nadu minister D Jayakumar alleged that in the assembly bye election, DMK killed the democracy and did not follow the rules. “We (AIADMK) have boycotted the Vikravandi assembly bye election. The DMK is a party that kills democracy. In the past, in the Erode assembly byelections, the democratic way was not followed. People were made to lock inside a hall like animals in the name of the campaign. Election officers did not take any steps to curtain their undemocratic actions,” he alleged.
He further said that the elections would not be held freely and fairly. “DMK will try all their short cut ways to win the bye election so we will boycott the election. We announce the boycott for the bye election alone as of now,” he added. When asked if their decision would not allow the BJP to grow in the elections, he said, “We have taken a decision based on current reality. The NDA, or Naam Tamilar Party, is not big but AIADMK is the biggest party.”
Earlier on April 9, The MLA of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) from Vikravandi assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu’s Villupuram district, N Pugazhenthi, passed away aged 71. Pugazhenthi, hailing from Athiyur Thiruvathi in Villupuram district, joined the DMK in 1973. He served as the chairman of Koliyanur Panchayat union in 1996 and was appointed as the Villipuram district president after state minister K Ponmudy stepped down from the post.
The DMK MLA contested the 2019 bypoll in Vikravandi following the demise of DMK’s Radhamani but lost the seat. The party fielded him again in 2021 in which he defeated AIADMK’s R Muthamilselvan.