- Chief Minister Vijay begins campaign for crucial Dharapuram bypoll.
- Former AIADMK MLAs, now TVK members, seek re-election.
- TVK anticipates victory; Vijay embraces MGR-Jayalalithaa legacy.
Chennai, Sep 30 (PTI) All arrangements are in place for the bypoll campaign of Chief Minister and TVK founder C Joseph Vijay in the Dharapuram Assembly Constituency, party sources said on Wednesday.
As Vijay had time and again positioned himself as the successor to the welfare legacy of iconic AIADMK leaders M G Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa, his campaign at Dharapuram, which is a part of western Tamil Nadu, an AIADMK stronghold, has attracted more attention.
Vijay is expected to start his campaign by 3 pm.
Following MGR and ‘Madam’ Jayalalithaa, it was he who had been opposing the “evil force DMK,” the TVK chief campaigned in Madurantakam constituency days ago, which will also go to polls alongside Dharapuram on October 6.
The TVK’s poll plank assumes more significance as the western parts of Tamil Nadu had traditionally been a fortress of the AIADMK, which was pushed to the third spot in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly election.
The bypolls were necessitated due to the resignations of AIADMK MLAs K Maragatham Kumaravel (Madurantakam), and P Sathyabama (Dharapuram), who later joined the ruling TVK.
The two former AIADMK functionaries have been renominated from Madurantakam and Dharapuram respectively by the TVK.
In the 2021Assembly polls, Tamil Nadu BJP leader L Murugan, then chief of the state unit, was defeated in Dharapuram by DMK’s N Kayalvizhi by a narrow margin of 1,393 votes. The BJP fought the 2021 polls in alliance with the AIADMK.
In 2026 polls, the AIADMK secured 40.56 per centage of votes in Dharapuram (Reserved constituency) and emerged the winner, followed by the DMK with 32.20 per cent and the TVK was relegated to the third spot with 23.23 per cent.
TVK leader Aadhav Arjuna told PTI Videos in Dharapuram that the TVK is all set for a definite win in both Dharapuram and Madurantakam segments as “the people, women and youth are welcoming us,” and the party is focusing on work at the booth level. “Our leader CM Vijay’s campaign will help us get a bigger margin.”
To a question, he said, “personal attack” is part of the DMK’s toolkit.
Arjuna, also a senior minister, said: “You can see the DMK format, they personally attacked AIADMK leaders MGR and Madam Jayalalithaa during the election time. Right now, AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami also follows Leader of Opposition, DMK’s Udhayanidhi Stalin in making personal attacks during polls.”
Further, Arjuna alleged that Udayanidhi and Palaniswami have now joined together. They make “personal attacks” and remarks aimed against women. The people threw out parties that launched personal attacks and the 2026 Assembly election campaign is a case in point. Despite such attacks, the TVK, which faced polls all alone won.
Similarly, TVK is now poised for a big win with party chief Vijay, and leaders of alliance parties working on the ground and the focus of the TVK regime is on “welfare, reform and restructuring.”
Meanwhile, TVK flags, colourful banners and festoons were put up in and around Dharapuram, marking Vijay’s first visit and maiden campaign in this western town, one of the urban hubs of Tiruppur district, which is home to a thriving knitwear industry and an export hub.
TVK workers and supporters began gathering at the venue since morning and police had a tough time managing the huge crowd. Police personnel repeated announcements in public address system urging party workers to be patient.
TVK supporters, a big chunk of them youngsters, also waited at Coimbatore behind serpentine barricades to welcome Vijay and raised slogans like “Thangamey Thalapathi,” and “TVK.”
Vijay is set to reach Dharapuram by road from Coimbatore.
At Dharapuram, banners put up for the ruling party’s election campaign featured the names of several prominent former AIADMK office-bearers, including that of former MP and ex-Minister, KV Ramalingam, who is now in the TVK.
While leaders usually address public meetings from a stage at a venue, and use vehicles for roadshows, the actor-turned politician has all along preferred his campaign vehicle, a caravan, for all kinds of public outreach programmes, including election campaigns.
The TVK chief’s vehicle, a bus transformed into a motorhome, has now become pretty popular, and it has already arrived at the sprawling venue in Dharapuram.
Police said elaborate security arrangements have been made for the meeting and about 3,000 personnel have been deployed.
The TVK has already said that entry to the venue is restricted to QR code passes.
Only 5,000 people who have been provided with entry passes featuring QR code will be allowed to attend the event, according to the ruling party.
Vijay will hold his poll campaign at Chitravuthanpalayam in Dharapuram, which falls under Tiruppur district.
The party has advised pregnant women, children, school students, senior citizens, differently-abled persons, and individuals with underlying health conditions to not attend the rally.
Arrangements are in place to provide basic amenities, including drinking water and medical teams have also been deployed at the venue.
(Disclaimer: This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)
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