Byelection outcome a ‘temporary victory for politics of betrayal’, says Stalin

DMK president M.K. Stalin on Friday described the outcome of the byelections to the Dharapuram and Madurantakam Assembly constituencies as a “temporary victory for the politics of betrayal”, but said the “fall of the politics of false image has begun”.

In a social media post, he said the votes polled by the parties that contested against the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) showed that it had been rejected by a majority of voters. “What is important is the votes polled by the parties that contested against the betraying force, the TVK. It has been rejected by a majority of the people,” he said.

Mr. Stalin urged the ruling party to give up “horse-trading, the poaching of MLAs, vendetta politics, uncivilised discourse, and dirty gestures”, and to stop making reels and instead focus on people’s issues. He said the byelections had been forced on voters barely five months after the general election because the two MLAs had resigned after joining the ruling party. He termed it a “blatant murder of democracy” and alleged that the TVK had fielded the defectors and deployed money power, administrative power, and police power to secure victory.

“Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, who had brought only his cinematic appeal into politics, had failed to secure a majority on his own but had become Chief Minister through horse-trading,” Mr. Stalin alleged. He also criticised Mr. Vijay’s campaign, saying the Chief Minister had believed that social media reels would help him win the byelections. Mr. Vijay had visited a roadside tea shop, driven a tractor, and campaigned from street to street, spending four days in the two constituencies, he said. “No Chief Minister in the past has campaigned like him. He worked to secure victory because it alone would ensure his political career,” the DMK president said.

Mr. Stalin cited the deployment of partyworkers from outside the constituencies, barricades along the Chief Minister’s routes, distribution of gifts, and the TVK candidate’s claim that she had spent heavily on Ministers as signs of the ruling party’s anxiety over the outcome. “It is said that if he [Mr. Vijay] is given five minutes, he will mince meat the Opposition. But people made him roam the streets for four days. He should now realise what an election is and how to work,” he said.

He further pointed out that even parties supporting the TVK-led government had alleged that money was transferred through GPay and prizes were distributed during the campaign. The candidate’s claim that she had spent crores of rupees had exposed the TVK’s so-called “clean image”, he said.

Mr. Stalin thanked DMK cadre for ensuring a tough contest and instilling fear in the ruling party. “Let us continue the campaign to expose the Chief Minister who came to power through cinematic glitter and became a puppet in the hands of the corporate mafia. He is in the hands of forces that are against Tamil Nadu. People will realise it soon,” he added.

‘Misuse of power’

Meanwhile, AIADMK general secretary and former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami termed the TVK’s victory in the byelections a “temporary victory” and alleged that the ruling party had misused its administrative machinery and money power to win the polls. In a statement thanking voters who supported the AIADMK candidates, he alleged that the byelections were necessitated by the TVK’s attempt to convert its minority government into a majority one by engaging in “horse-trading” of AIADMK MLAs.

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami.
| Photo Credit:
E. LAKSHMI NARAYANAN

Accusing the TVK of deploying money power, administrative influence, and manpower to secure victory, Mr. Palaniswami alleged that the ruling party had offered voters inducements and made promises it could not fulfil. He also alleged that false cases had been foisted on the AIADMK candidate in Dharapuram and partyworkers, a district party secretary had been illegally detained, and several AIADMK functionaries had been threatened and lured into the TVK.

Taking a swipe at Mr. Vijay, Mr. Palaniswami said the leader, who had boasted that he could defeat his opponents with a half-hour speech, had been forced to campaign from street-to-street. He maintained that the results did not signal the decline of the AIADMK and asserted that the party had secured a good number of votes in both constituencies despite knowing that the outcome would not lead to the formation of an AIADMK government.

“The TVK may think it has entered the AIADMK’s fortress, but this is only a temporary victory,” he said, describing the AIADMK, founded by former Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran and nurtured by former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, as an “iron fortress”.