With hardly 12 hours remaining for polling to commence at RK Nagar Assembly constituency which goes for a by-election, political Tamil Nadu is aghast and bewildered over the kind of campaigning seen at the constituency.
“The fight should have been between E Madhusudanan of the AIADMK and Maruthu Ganesh of the DMK. But it is strange to see the kind of campaign unleashed by TTV Dinakaran, the independent candidate who is also the nephew of the jailed VK Sasikala,” said N Kalyanasundaram, Tamil Nadu’s political chronicler.
He said he was at a loss to understand how Dinakaran could emerge as a potential rival to the AIADMK and the DMK. “He does not have a political party to support him. What was his relation with Jayalalithaa? As far as I know he was expelled from the AIADMK by none other than Jayalalithaa,” said Kalyanasundaram. He agreed to reports by The Pioneer that the AIADMK, a party founded by MGR was disintegrating faster than it was formed and that too during the centenary year of the party founder (MGR).
Wednesday saw P Vetrivel, one of the 18 AIADMK MLAs disqualified by the Speaker releasing to the media a 20 second video footage of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa sipping a juice with her left hand on a hospital bed. She was seen in hospital robes. The video has no date of recording or timer on it.
All political parties barring the Dinakaran group condemned the action of Vetrivel in releasing the video. By 1 pm, the Election Commission of India issued a release to all TV channels asking them not to telecast the video “as it would violate Section 126(1)(b) of the Representation of the People’s Act 1951 which prohibits display of any election matter inter alia, on TV, during the period 48 hours fixed for conclusion of the poll”. Vetrivel told reporters that the video was shot by his boss Sasikala after Jayalalithaa was shifted from the ICU to a ward in Apollo Hospitals.
The Returning Officer of RK Nagar has written to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Washermanpet asking the latter to file a complaint under Section 126 of the RPA 1951 against Vetrivel, who released the video.The day also saw Krishnapriya, daughter of Elavarasai (sister-in-law of Sasikala) condemning Dinakaran for releasing the video while Dinakaran's son Jayanth coming out in the open defending his father and Vetrivel.
The AIADMK and the DMK condemned the release of the video on the eve of a crucial bypoll . “This is an insult to the memory of our Amma (Jayalalithaa) who did not want her pictures or videos to be aired during her hospitalisation. The Dinakaran camp has done this with ulterior motive,” said D Jayakumar, Minister of fisheries and a senior AIADMK leader.
TKS Elangovan, MP and the DMK spokesman described Dinakaran’s action as ‘cruel’. “Jayalalithaa was a great leader in spite of the fact that she was our rival. But this video should not have been released against her wishes,” said Elangovan.
Though it is only a by-election from an Assembly constituency, commentators like Kalyanasundaram are of the view that the result has got wide ramification in Tamil Nadu politics. “This is the beginning of the end of the AIADMK and the resurgence of the DMK,” he said. The counting is scheduled for December 24.