Jaya gets down to business after a year’s poll boycott

After boycotting assembly byelections for some time, AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa has allowed her party to contest byelections in Thiruchendur and Vandawasi. Jayalalithaa cited rigging and manipulation of EVMs to boycott polls after her party lost to the DMK in Thirumangalam this year.

But her change of mind has galvanised political forces in the state. Now parties are rallying around the two main Dravidian parties in what is being seen as a war of attrition. With speculation that chief minister M Karunanidhi may opt for early elections in 2010 (his government’s term ends in 2011), the byelections are seen as a first round of sparring between the DMK and AIADMK.

The May Lok Sabha elections resulted in a re-alignment of forces with the DMK, Congress and VCK forming the ruling group, while the MDMK, PMK, CPI and CPI(M) aligned with AIADMK to form an opposition alliance. The not-too impressive performance of the opposition alliance resulted in an uneasy calm. Jayalalithaa’s Poes Garden residence, which had become a beehive of activity, fell silent after the results.
The AIADMK boycotted five byelections in August. The MDMK and PMK, too, stayed away from the polls while the Left contested four seats. The results were on expected lines with the DMK winning three and ally Congress clinching two seats.

But now MDMK and the Left parties have decided to support AIADMK candidates in the two byelections on December 19.