The political scenario in Tamil Nadu got enlivened on Monday with the Election Commission of India announcing the by-election for the Srirangam Assembly constituency. The by-election from Srirangam, which fell vacant following the sentencing of AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa by a special court in Bangalore in the disproportionate wealth case, will be held on February 13.
Jayalalithaa was sentenced to four years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 100 crore by the then judge Michael John Cunha in September 2014 in connection with charges of amassing wealth worth Rs 55 crore which was disproportionate to her known sources of income. She lost her chief ministership and membership of the Assembly following the conviction.
With the legislature secretary issuing an official release last month announcing that Srirangam seat has fallen vacant following the sentencing of Jayalalithaa, the Election Commission announced the by-election from the constituency.
The ruling AIADMK, handicapped by the absence of Jayalalithaa may have to sweat it out unlike in 2011 when the party had a cake walk victory at the constituency. The BJP has already announced that the party would field its own candidate in the by-election.
The DMK, the main Opposition, which got rejuvenated last week following the re-election of Muthuvel Karunanidhi (92) as the party chief for the record 11th time and K Anbazhagan (94) as the general secretary will also field a candidate. Other players like the Vanniyar outfit PMK, Vaiko’s MDMK and Vijayakanth-led DMDK are yet to announce their plans.