AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa set for easy win in RK Nagar bypoll

NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa may practically get an electoral walkover after major political parties decided against fielding candidates against her in the RK Nagar constituency, where she filed nominations for a bypoll to be held on June 27. The only known candidate against her is antigraft activist KR ‘Traffic’ Ramaswamy, who has no backing from any major party.

DMK leader and former chief minister M Karunanidhi released a statement on his party’s decision to not contest the bypoll. “We know how democracy will be treated in this bypoll. We have seen how the police and administration was mute in the face of excesses and violations of the electoral code during the Srirangam bypoll,” he said. The Srirangam bypoll, won handsomely by the ruling AIADMK, is largely the reason why various parties decided against fielding candidates in RK Nagar. The bypoll was necessitated by J Jayalalithaa’s conviction by a special court in a disproportionate assets case. She lost her membership to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly following the conviction, which was later overturned by the Karnataka high court.

“We haven’t decided whether we will field a candidate, we dont want a repeat of Srirangam where money and muscle power was in full display. We don’t want this bypoll, so close to the assembly polls in the state to demoralise the party,” said BJP state president Tamilsai Soundarajan.