Dharapuram Bypoll Tests Vijay's TVK Momentum As DMK, AIADMK Target Defector Candidate

Tiruppur: The road to stopping the Vijay juggernaut starts in Dharapuram, a reserved constituency in western Tamil Nadu, where the resignation of the sitting AIADMK MLA and her subsequent switch to the ruling TVK, just weeks after the 2026 Assembly elections, has necessitated a bypoll.

Bypolls set for two seats

The Election Commission has scheduled bypolls in Dharapuram and Madurantakam, another reserved constituency where the sitting AIADMK MLA resigned and joined the TVK, on October 6.

While Madurantakam, around 80 km from Chennai, is expected to be a relatively easy contest for the ruling TVK, Dharapuram presents Vijay with his first serious political challenge.

While the TVK needs to win both seats to demonstrate that Vijay’s rapid political ascent was not a fluke, the DMK and AIADMK are looking for at least one victory to demonstrate that anti-incumbency is beginning to set in against the Vijay government and highlight the lack of experience in his Cabinet.

Campaign battle takes shape

This reporter spent a day travelling through 10 villages and towns in Dharapuram, part of Tiruppur district, India’s knitwear capital. Interactions with several dozen voters indicated that the bypoll is shaping up as a strong three-cornered contest between the TVK, AIADMK and principal Opposition party DMK.

The DMK has stepped up its campaign, bringing in loyalists of former ministers Senthil Balaji, I Periyasamy and KN Nehru from Karur, Dindigul and Tiruchirappalli districts to work in the constituency.

The TVK, too, has deployed three ministers, including KA Sengottaiyan and KG Arunraj, after the party finished third in the Assembly elections four months ago.

Candidates face voter anger

Both the DMK and AIADMK are seeking to build momentum around the volte-face by TVK candidate P Sathyabama. DMK candidate S Suganya is campaigning with a suitcase as a jibe at Sathyabama’s switch, while the AIADMK is appealing to voters to teach a lesson to a “backstabber” elected on the party’s two-leaves symbol.

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The campaign appears to have struck a chord with voters. “What was the need for her to resign even before the indelible ink on our fingers disappeared?” asked R Ramasamy, 71, a farmer from Suriyanallur village.

The resentment against Sathyabama is so strong that several voters said the TVK could have swept the election had it fielded another candidate.

Water remains key issue

Underneath the political rhetoric, however, access to water for irrigation and domestic use remains the biggest public concern in the dry and parched constituency.