With the campaigning for the Srirangam by-election coming to a close on Wednesday evening, the AIADMK camp is in an upbeat mood. Though, party supremo J Jayalalithaa has not appeared even once for the campaigning, her absence has been compensated by high-pitch campaign by a 50-member committee headed by party presidium chairman E Madhusoodanan and which includes all members of the Council of Ministers under Chief Minister O Paneerselvan. Interestingly, Paneerselvan was not included in the campaign committee, but he was present in and around Srirangam on around the clock basis.
The task given to the AIADMK campaign committee was to ensure that party candidate Valarmathi wins by a majority of more than 50,000 against her nearest DMK rival. In the 2011 Assembly election, Jayalalithaa won the seat by a majority of more than 41,000 votes.
Since she was disqualified by the judge of a Bengaluru Special Court in connection with the Disproportionate Wealth case, the party cadre has been asked by Madhusoodanan and other members of the campaign committee to ensure a clear majority for the party candidate to show to the outside world that Amma still reigns supreme in Tamil Nadu. If the social developments work by the AIADMK Government are any yardstick, the chances are that the party candidate would have a cakewalk win over her rivals.