Lost Challenge
AIADMK factions turn bypoll into a desperate referendum on their legitimacy
The Election Commission of India (EC) has been forced to put off the byelection in Tamil Nadu’s Radhakrishnan (RK) Nagar assembly constituency, necessitated by J. Jayalalithaa’s demise. The EC’s action on April 9 came amid allegations of an unprecedented bid to purchase votes by rival factions of the late chief minister’s party, the AIADMK.
Denied the AIADMK’s familiar ‘two-leaves’ poll symbol, RK Nagar has become a desperate, make-or-break battle for both factions, the ruling AIADMK (Amma) faction owing allegiance to the incarcerated V.K. Sasikala, and the breakaway AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi Amma) headed by former CM O. Panneerselvam (OPS).
It was an equally perplexing time for RK Nagar’s 250,000 voters, confronted with new faces and poll symbols—T.T.V. Dhinakaran of the ruling faction with a ‘hat’ as his poll symbol, and a ‘lamp post’ for the OPS camp rival, E. Madhusudanan.
With the RK Nagar result promising to be the clincher on the true claimant to Jayalalithaa’s legacy, both factions had pulled out all the stops. Cash and other allurements were reportedly offered both within the constituency as well as through conduits from contiguous areas.
Income tax officials pointed to withdrawals worth Rs 100 crore from bank accounts associated with state health minister C. Vijayabaskar, allegedly for distribution to voters in RK Nagar. The rival OPS faction similarly faces allegations of having tried to buy voters through their functionaries. Apart from all this, the OPS faction created more drama, bringing in mock coffins of Jayalalithaa to fuel rumours that
THE RIVAL PARTIES FRUSTRATED THE EC’s MEASURES TO CHECK THE CASH-FORVOTE MENACE
she did not die of natural causes. And perhaps to avoid possibly adverse consequences, the ruling faction carefully avoided any mention of their general secretary Sasikala’s name throughout the campaign.
Competing rivals in RK Nagar have managed to completely frustrate the EC’s comprehensive measures to check the cash-for-votes menace. Poll officials say new modes of bribing voters have made it an even greater challenge to restore electoral integrity. The commission has declared that no election will be held in the constituency until the vitiating effect is cleared.
Former civil servant and convenor of the Forum for Electoral Integrity, M.G. Devasahayam, complimented the EC for “rescinding this farce of an election”, but cautioned against letting it become “a repetition of Thanjavur and Aravakurichi”. During the assembly polls in May 2016, the EC cancelled polls—a first in India’s electoral history—in both constituencies, following reports of distribution of cash and gifts to voters by candidates and political parties. After it was put off twice and cancelled, the bypolls were held in November 2016 when the same candidates contested. The Election Commission had not disqualified the corrupt contestants.
Meanwhile, the impasse in RK Nagar is particularly worrisome for both AIADMK factions in their mutual quest for legitimacy. The post-Jayalalithaa churn is clearly far from over.