The crucial assembly bypoll in the two reserved constituencies of Tamil Nadu are set to witness an interesting five-cornered contest, with the Left parties announcing their candidates for the two seats.
This will be the first electoral battle in the state after C Joseph Vijay-led TVK formed its maiden government with the help of allies after winning the April 23 Assembly polls.
The Election Commission of India had earlier this month announced the schedule for bye-elections to five Assembly constituencies and one Parliamentary constituency across Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, West Bengal and Assam. Polling will be held on October 6, with counting of votes scheduled for October 9.
Full schedule of bypolls to 5 assembly seats
| Issue of Gazette notification | September 9 |
| Last date for filing nominations | September 16 |
| Scrutiny of nominations | September 17 |
| Last date for withdrawal of candidature | September 19 |
| Polling | October 6 |
| Counting of votes | October 9 |
| Election to be completed by | October 11 |
Where and why are bypolls happening
In Tamil Nadu, bypolls will be held in 35-Madurantakam (SC) and 101-Dharapuram (SC) Assembly constituencies. The Madurantakam seat fell vacant following the resignation of Maragatham Kumaravel, while the Dharapuram seat became vacant after the resignation of P Sathyabama.
{{/usCountry}}In Tamil Nadu, bypolls will be held in 35-Madurantakam (SC) and 101-Dharapuram (SC) Assembly constituencies. The Madurantakam seat fell vacant following the resignation of Maragatham Kumaravel, while the Dharapuram seat became vacant after the resignation of P Sathyabama.
{{/usCountry}}In Puducherry, polling will take place in 09-Thattanchavady Assembly constituency, following the resignation of N Rangasamy.
In West Bengal, bypolls have been scheduled in 70-Rejinagar and 210-Nandigram Assembly constituencies. The Rejinagar seat fell vacant following the resignation of Humayun Kabir, while the Nandigram seat became vacant after the resignation of Suvendu Adhikari.
In Assam, the 09-Nagaon Parliamentary constituency will also go to a bypoll following the resignation of Pradyut Bordoloi.
Nominations in TN bypolls
The nominations of 58 candidates for the Madurantakam and Dharapuram bypolls were accepted on Thursday following scrutiny, the Election Commission (EC) said.
The nominations of ruling TVK candidates and those from the opposition DMK and AIADMK, among others, were found to be in order, PTI news agency reported.
The bypolls in the two reserved constituencies are set to witness an interesting five-cornered contest, with the Left parties announcing their candidates for the two seats.
According to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) web portal, the nominations of 28 candidates were accepted in Madurantakam, while a total of 30 were found valid in Dharapuram.
Official sources cited by PTI said that of the total 91 nominations received in the two Assembly segments, 41 were rejected.
Facing his first electoral battle in the state after coming to power with the help of allies in the April 23 assembly polls, TVK founder and CM Vijay has nominated former AIADMK MLAs K Maragatham Kumaravel and P Sathyabama from Madurantakam and Dharapuram, respectively.
Both Kumaravel and Satyabama had won from the respective constituencies as AIADMK candidates in the April 23 polls, before resigning as legislators and joining the ruling TVK later.
The DMK has nominated I Paranthaman for Madurantakam and S Suganya for Dharapuram. The AIADMK, which heads the NDA, has already announced an all-women line-up, fielding former MLA Kanitha Sampath in Madurantakam and K Bhanumathi in Dharapuram.
The CPI (M) and CPI announced that they would contest as an independent Left front, breaking away from traditional electoral coalitions, placing them in direct opposition to both the DMK and TVK.