The ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), which is expected to announce its candidate for the Tiruvarur assembly byelection on Saturday, is deliberating over a way to break the jinx of being unable to bag the seat.
Ever since the AIADMK entered the State’s electoral fray in 1977, Tiruvarur has remained a constituency where the party has never won.
Only once, the ruling party was on the winning side when its ally, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), won the seat in 1980.
Bucking the trend
On all other occasions, either the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or its ally, CPI (M), captured the seat.
Even during the 1984 and 1991 elections when the AIADMK, along with the Congress, had scored massive victories across the State, Tiruvarur bucked the trend. On those two years, nominees of the CPI (M), aided by the DMK, were elected.
It was in 1962 that the constituency was formed. At that time, the Congress was the winner. In the subsequent election, the CPI (M), which was part of the DMK-led front, bagged the seat and in 1971, the DMK netted it for the first time.
R.S. Bharathi, organising secretary of the DMK, expressed confidence that his party would continue its winning streak, as “we will seek votes in the name of Kalaignar [former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi]”.
Among the issues to be raised by the party is the level of relief work done by the State in the Cauvery delta, especially Tiruvarur.
‘Advantage won’t last’
However, the ruling party’s Tiruvarur district treasurer, R. Panneerselvam, who is an aspirant and contested unsuccessfully in the 2016 Assembly elections, seeks to link the success of the DMK in the previous elections to the presence of Karunanidhi.
He argued that the principal Opposition party did not enjoy this advantage any longer.
Besides, welfare schemes of the government and the quality of relief work executed by the administration, under the “direct supervision” of a group of senior Ministers would stand in good stead, he added.