Chennai: Long speeches at campaign meetings and five-hour-long roadshows with pit stops in villages across Maduranthakam and Dharapuram — Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay is sweating it out like never before to…

Chennai: Long speeches at campaign meetings and five-hour-long roadshows with pit stops in villages across Maduranthakam and Dharapuram — Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay is sweating it out like never before to win the October 6 byelections in both Assembly seats, where TVK candidates are turncoats from the AIADMK. Vijay’s extensive, four-day campaign across the two constituencies stands in contrast to the criticism he faced for a subdued campaign schedule during the April 23 Assembly elections and underlines a larger political game by the TVK. During the roadshows, Vijay got off his campaign van to sip tea, walk through agricultural fields and on the roads, ride a tractor, and visit temples — all to sweep under the rug the public anger against the two TVK candidates, who resigned as MLAs barely 20 days after being elected on the AIADMK ticket.From the ground | Turncoat politics meets high-stakes triangular contest in crucial Maduranthakam bypoll in Tamil NaduOpposition parties latched onto the shift in strategy, claiming that the Chief Minister was forced to visit villages and meet people due to the “fear of losing” the byelections. The importance of the bypollsFor the TVK and Chief Minister Vijay, the stakes are high.They are under intense pressure not just to win the two seats — political pundits project the fight in Dharapuram as tough, with local caste equations apparently favouring the AIADMK — but by a wide margin to drive home the point that Vijay’s cult-like popularity remains undiminished, and that the honeymoon period for his five-month-old government is far from over. The TVK, which emerged as the single-largest party in the elections by winning 107 seats, cobbled up the majority by allying with the Congress, Left, VCK, and IUML to bring its strength to 120. However, the party began fishing in the AIADMK’s troubled waters by bringing 25 of the 47 MLAs to vote for the TVK during the trust vote on May 13 — five MLAs went back to the AIADMK while six joined the TVK. A majority of the rebels are adopting a “wait-and-watch” approach.It is clear that Vijay wants his party to reach the majority mark of 118 on its own and believes the AIADMK rebels can help bridge the gap. While the Congress, VCK, and IUML with nine MLAs together are part of the government, the four-member Left is supporting from outside and has red-flagged the “horse-trading” of legislators. To register their protest, the CPI(M) has fielded a candidate in Madurantakam, while a CPI candidate has entered the contest in Dharapuram.TVK’s turncoat candidates face grassroots fury in by-elections On the campaign trail, Vijay has also justified the “horse-trading” claims of Opposition parties by turning the tables and claiming that AIADMK MLAs resigned only after their party leadership attempted to secure the DMK’s support to form a government, despite the TVK emerging as the single-largest party.‘Message to AIADMK rebels’Only by getting Maragatham Kumaravel and P Sathyabama from Madurantakam and Dharapuram, respectively — can Vijay go to the bypolls in another five constituencies, including Tiruchi (East) that he resigned from, that are vacant with confidence. Four of these seats became vacant due to resignation of AIADMK rebels.Moreover, Vijay and the TVK believe that only a massive victory can convince more AIADMK rebels — about 10 continue to oppose Edappadi K Palaniswami’s leadership — to cross over to the TVK after resigning as legislators. Only to make it possible, Vijay is walking the extra mile. A victory, the TVK believes will hasten the migration of more MLAs and second-rung leaders from the AIADMK — the Chief Minister’s political messaging has been unmistakable: he aims to capture the entire anti-DMK space in Tamil Nadu, effectively sidelining the AIADMK.Attacking women crosses the line, won’t remain silent: TN CM Vijay A defeat or the victory margins coming down — even in one segment — has the potential to strip the sheen of Vijay’s historic achievement of storming to power within two years of launching the TVK and put an end to the migration from the AIADMK. This would leave Vijay at the mercy of the alliance partners, who are not on the “same page” with the TVK on many issues, and make the byelections to five more constituencies particularly tough.In such a scenario, the government would also come under more scrutiny as already the dispensation has made U-turns on at least five occasions, including revoking the government order that sought to keep the Public (Law and Order) Department outside the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Expert viewRamu Manivannan, former head of the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Madras, told DH that the Chief Minister’s aggressive campaign for the byelections is part of a calculated master plan to keep both major Opposition parties — the DMK and the AIADMK — out of contention for the long haul. “He [Vijay] is enjoying a ride on the crest of the circumstances that led to the decline of the Dravidian parties in the 2026 elections, and he wants to utilise it by throwing to the wind everything he spoke against in the run-up to the elections. By actively encouraging defections from the AIADMK, the Chief Minister is signalling that political morality is only for others, not for him,” Manivannan added.Polling in the two constituencies will be held on October 6 and counting of votes will be done on October 9.

Source: Deccan Herald