Radhakrishnan Nagar By-election Results: TTV Dhinakaran Registers Huge Win in Fight For Amma’s Legacy

Dhinakaran's victory is certain to trigger a fresh round of political realignment in Tamil Nadu which witnessed months of uncertainty following AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa's death in December 2016.

New Delhi, Dec 24: In what could have far-reaching ramifications in Tamil Nadu politics, TTV Dhinakaran registered a huge win in Radhakrishnan (RK) Nagar Assembly by-election, results for which were announced on Sunday, December 24. Dhinakaran, who contested the bypoll as an independent candidate on ‘pressure cooker’ symbol won the election by 40,707 votes. He defeated AIADMK’s E Madhusudanan and DMK’s Marudhu Ganesh.

Dhinakaran’s victory is certain to trigger a fresh round of political realignment in Tamil Nadu which witnessed months of uncertainty following AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa‘s death in December 2016.

Talking to reporters at Madurai airport before leaving for Chennai, a super confident Dhinakaran labelled EPS-OPS Government as corrupt and said that the result in RK Nagar reflects the mood of people of Tamil Nadu. “The people of RK Nagar have given me a big victory. I am an independent candidate just for namesake, all party (AIADMK) workers are with me. I also have Amma (Jayalalithaa)’s wishes,” he told reporters in Chennai where he visited memorials of MGR and Jayalalithaa.

The bypoll in RK Nagar, which was necessitated after Jayalalithaa’s demise, was being seen as a fight for Amma’s legacy. Dhinakaran’s overwhelming victory has not only emboldened him to put pressure on the EPS-OPS government but also served a big blow to Opposition DMK as well as the BJP. While the BJP has been trying to expand its footprints in the sounthern state, the DMK saw an opportunity in the infighting in the AIADMK after Jayalalithaa’s death. However, the party headed by acting-president MK Stalin failed to capitalise. The acquittal of party leaders A Raja and Kanimozhi in 2G spectrum allocation scam also failed to helped the DMK.

Bypoll in RK Nagar was scheduled to be held in April but the Election Commission postponed the voting after allegations of bribing of voters by Dhinakaran surfaced. It was alleged that Rs 89 crore was distributed among voters by Dhinakaran, who AIADMK official candidate at that time.

Dhinakaran, who had rubbished the allegations, was even arrested for influencing voters. He was granted bail days later. Dhinakaran, nephew of jailed VK Sasikala, who has been at loggerheads with O Panneerselvam to get control of AIADMK, even went to the Election Commission to claiming right over party’s ‘two leaves’ symbol. However, he failed to do so and decided to contest RK bypoll as an independent candidate.

During campaign for the by-election, the AIADMK had accused Dhinakaran and Sasikala of hiding facts concerning Jayalalithaa’s stay in hospital. However, in a counter offensive, Team Dhinakaran released a video showing Jayalithaa on hospital bed sipping a juice while watcjing TV.