Campaign Ends for Madurantakam and Dharapuram Bypolls; Polling on October 6

Campaigning for the Madurantakam and Dharapuram Assembly bypolls ended at 6 pm on Sunday, October 4, as mandated by the Election Commission. Polling will be held on Tuesday, October 6, in the two reserved constituencies, and counting is scheduled for October 9.

TVK president and Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay wound up his campaign with a roadshow of about 40 km in Dharapuram, and predicted a "historic victory" for the TVK. The contest is the first by-election since the TVK government took office, and the party is seeking both seats to raise its strength in the 234-member Assembly to 109, nine short of the majority mark.

The TVK, DMK, AIADMK, NTK and the Left parties are in a five-way contest. AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami appealed to voters to back the party's candidates, Ganitha Sampath in Madurantakam and K. Bhanumathi in Dharapuram, and to defeat both the TVK and the DMK.

DMK president M.K. Stalin urged voters in both constituencies to weigh the electricity tariff hike and rising prices of essential commodities, including rice, before pressing the button on the EVM.