Battle lines have been drawn for the April 12 by-poll from RK Nagar Assembly constituency with the O Panneerselvam faction of the AIADMK deciding late Wednesday night to field E Madhusoodanan as their candidate.
The Sasikala faction has already announced on Tuesday that TTV Dinakaran, deputy general secretary and nephew of VK Sasikala, undergoing prison sentence in the Disproportionate Asset case would be their candidate.
Deepa Patrick Madhavan, niece of late Jayalalithaa is also contesting from the constituency under the auspices of MAD Peravai. an outfit launched by her and husband Patrick Madhavan.
More than the result of this by-poll, what is being hotly discussed in Tamil Nadu is wherher Dinakaran would take over the Chief Ministership of the State. The DMK has announced Marudha Ganesh as its candidate making the hustings at RK Nagar a four-cornered contest.
Though the BJP and the DMDK too are contesting, it is only of academic interest and the question being asked is whether the candidates sponsored by these parties would be able to save their security deposit.
The Panneerselvam faction's move to field septugenarian Madhusoodanan means that Dinakaran is in for major trouble. Though Jayalalithaa had won the 2015 by-poll from RK Nagar constituency with a big majority of more than 1,50,000 votes, her margin of victory had come down to 60,000 in the general election held in May 2016.
The decision of Dinakaran to contest from R K Nagar is being seen as a move to take over the chief ministership from Edappadi Palaniswamy, said a source in the AIADMK. "Though Dinakaran has claimed that he is not interested in becoming the chief minister unseating Edappadi Palaniswamy, the message is loud and clear. Once the election is over, we can see some of the ministers themselves demanding that Dinakaran should become the chief minister" , said the AIADMK leader.
The controversy behind the death of Jayalalithaa and the subsequent internecine war between the leaders for her legacy has created a lot of resentment among ardent Jayalalithaa fans. "This is expected to have its fall out in the result of the by-poll, an acid test for Edappadi Palaniswamy, the chief minister," said a senior AIADMK leader within the official faction.
N Kalyanasundaram, Tamil Nadu's political chronicler is of the view that the decision of the Sasikala faction to field Dinakaran could have disastrous consequences for the party. "It was an act of bravado by Dinakaran. Chances are that the Panneerselvam faction may walk away with 35 per cent of the AIADMK votes while Deepa may take away 25 per cent of the total AIADMK votes. The AIADMK factions themselves has simplified the job for the DMK candidate Ganesh.Though RK Nagar has been an AIADMK fortress, a lot has changed since the demise of Jayalalithaa," said Kalyanasundaram.