Overview
- P. Sathyabama resigned from the AIADMK after winning Dharapuram earlier this year, joined TVK and was nominated by TVK for the bypoll that her resignation triggered.
- The contest is a five-way race featuring TVK’s Sathyabama, DMK’s Sukanya, AIADMK’s K. Bhanumathi, CPI’s P. Lakshmanan and NTK’s Karthika.
- The CPI is running its own candidate despite giving outside support to the TVK government, a move that could pull votes from labour and farm communities and affect TVK’s margin.
- Congress MP Karti Chidambaram publicly criticised TVK for awarding tickets to recent defectors instead of long-standing party cadres.
- Dharapuram has high turnout and a volatile record with no party holding it in consecutive elections since 1984, so the October 9 result will influence whether TVK can shore up legislative control.