JOIN USPutting all speculations to an end, the ruling AIADMK announced that its general secretary Jayalalitha will be the party’s candidate for the June 27 byelections to the R K Nagar Assembly seat in North Chennai.
This is the first time that Jayalalitha would be contesting from a constituency in Chennai, which was considered DMK bastion.
The seat fell vacant following the resignation of AIADMK MLA P Vetrivel on May 17 to enable Jayalalitha to get elected to the state Assembly.
With the Karnataka High Court ruling in her favour, Jayalalitha was sworn-in as the chief minister again on May 23 and as per the rules, within six months, she has to get elected to the Assembly.
According to the rules, the Representation of the People Act, 1951 does not bar or enable someone to become chief minister or prime minister. It is provided for in the Constitution. Normally, a non-member can be chief minister for a maximum of six months.
R K Nagar Assembly, which is considered backward and disregarded constituency in North Chennai, had already been decorated with fresh graffitis, banners and laying of new roads, amid high expectations that Jayalalitha would contest from it.
With various Opposition parties, including the DMK, the PMK and the VCK announcing boycott of the polls, it is expected to be a cakewalk for Jayalalitha. However, the Congress, BJP and G K Vasan-led Tamil Maanila Congress are yet to decide whether their party would contest R K Nagar byelections.
AIADMK party sources said that Jayalalithaa is likely to file her nomination papers next week and start her election campaign.
In 2011 Assembly elections, Vetrivel trounced P K Sekar Babu, who joined the DMK a few weeks before the elections in 2011 after quitting the AIADMK, by a margin of over 30,000 votes.
According to Election Commission’s order, the issue of notification will be on June 3, last date of filing nominations will be on June 10, date of scrutiny will be on June 11 and date of withdrawal of candidate is on June 13.
The date of poll and counting will be held on June 27 and June 30 respectively. The model code of conduct will also come into force with immediate effect.