2002–03 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly by-elections

By-elections to Andipatti constituency was held in Tamil Nadu, India, on 21 February 2002. Three state assembly constituencies, Saidapet, Vaniyambadi, and Acharapakkam were held on 31 May 2002. In 2003, by-election in Sathankulam was held on 26 February 2003. During this by-election, the DMK and all the other major parties supported the Congress candidate, while only BJP supported the AIADMK candidate. This election came after the support of the Anti-conversion bill by AIADMK general secretary, Jayalalithaa and increasing tension between DMK and BJP due to the passage of the bill. The AIADMK win in Sathankulam was significant, since it completes the AIADMK sweep in by-elections after its victory in 2001. Also the anti-conversion bill was not an important factor in the congress-bastion Sathankulam, whose electorate consists of a large percentage of minorities.[1]

2002–2003 Tamil Nadu assembly by-elections

21 February – 31 May 2002; 26 February 2003

5 vacant seats in the Legislature of Tamil Nadu
  First party Second party
 
Leader J. Jayalalithaa M. Karunanidhi
Party AIADMK DMK
Alliance N/A INC+
Leader's seat Andipatti Chepauk
Seats won 5 0
Seat change +4 -3
Popular vote 21919,906 212,100
Percentage 53.5% 35.5%

Chief Minister before election

O. Panneerselvam(Acting)
AIADMK

Chief Minister

J. Jayalalithaa
AIADMK

Despite attempts by the opposition to delay the Andipatti by-election, due to alleged voter list irregularities, the Election Commission of India decided to have the vacant seat in Andipatti, early in February and push off the other three vacant seats, in May.[2] Andipatti seat was made vacant by the resignation of Thanga Tamil Selvan to facilitate the election of J. Jayalalithaa, who had her corruption charges cleared in late December in 2001. She could be sworn in as Chief Minister only as MLA seat.[3]

As AIADMK had won 132 seats in 2001 State assembly election, even with the breakup of its previous alliance with Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC), Indian National Congress (INC), Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) and Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), it would have still continued to stay in power, regardless of the results in the by-election. But since Jayalalithaa was legally not allowed to run for an MLA seat in 2001, she made the decision to run for an MLA seat before swearing in as Chief Minister.[4]

The Andipatti victory, in late February, paved way for Jayalalithaa to swear in as Chief Minister. The party also swept the by-election in late May. The PMK lost an anticipated victory in Acharappakam, a constituency with a high percentage of Vanniyars electorates. It was observed that the Dalit vote base coupled with the popularity of Jayalalithaa led to the defeat, allowing AIADMK to wrest this seat from the PMK.

Alliances

Due to reported frustrations with J. Jayalalithaa, almost all of her allies from 2001 election, left the AIADMK alliance and started their own third front. The Third Front consisted of CPM, CPI, Indian National League (INL), TMC and INC. AIADMK, which was supported by 196 MLAs in 2001, shrunk to 132 seats, with 64 MLAs leaving the alliance. Only 117 seats are required for a party to form a Government. The PMK, who backed AIADMK in 2001, backed the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), in this by-election, which was part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Results

After Sathankulam by-election in 2003:

AIADMK+ SEATS DMK+ SEATS Third Front SEATS OTHERS SEATS
AIADMK 136 (+4) DMK 30 (-1) CPM 6 MDMK 0
PMK 19 (-1) CPI 5 FBL 1
BJP 4 TMC 22
MADMK 2 INC 7
INL 0 (-1)
TOTAL (2003) 136 TOTAL (2003) 55 TOTAL (2003) 42 TOTAL (2003) 1
TOTAL (2001) 196 TOTAL (2001) 37 TOTAL (2001) n/a TOTAL (2001) 1
  • The number on the left, in the table, represents the total number of MLAs after the by-election, and the number in parenthesis represents, the seats picked up or lost due to the by-election
  • The numbers presented for 2001, represents, the alliance, when the PMK and Third Front allied with the AIADMK.

Constituents and results

Source: Election Commission of India[5]

Andipatti

Tamil Nadu assembly by-election, 2002: Andipatti
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
AIADMK J. Jayalalithaa 78,437 58.22% +4.44%
DMK Vaigai Sekar 37,236 27.64% -4.03%
MDMK Jayachandran 8,421 6.25% -5.94%
Majority 41,201 n/a n/a
Turnout 134,734 n/a n/a
AIADMK hold Swing

Saidapet

The election here became very controversial, when opposition leaders, DMK, the left and others, complained about ADMK party cadres allegedly working with the police, that resulted in taking over of polling booths. There were also complaints of voter registration fraud by the opposition. The opposition leaders appealed for an entirely new election in this constituent, which was rejected, by the ECI.[6]

Tamil Nadu assembly by-election, 2002: Saidapet
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
AIADMK Radha Ravi 65,868 50.9%
DMK Ma. Subramanian 53,943 41.7%
CPI (M) T. Nandagopal 4,154 3.2%
MDMK P. Subramani 2,235 1.7%
Majority 11,925
Turnout 129,433 52.2%
AIADMK gain from DMK Swing

Vaniyambadi

Source: The Hindu[7]

Tamil Nadu assembly by-election, 2002: Vaniyambadi
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
AIADMK R. Vadivelu 63,599 49.2%
DMK E.M. Anifa 43,878 34.0%
INL Nawaz 11,324 8.8%
MDMK R. Lakshmi Kanthan 3,191 2.5%
PNK S. Shakila 1,135 0.9%
LJSP Abdullah Basha 1,045 0.8%
Majority 19,721
Turnout 129,217 63.7%
AIADMK gain from INL Swing
  • Indian National League is not a recognized party by ECI, so Nawaz was listed as an Independent, rather than under the INL banner in the election ballots.

Acharapakkam (SC)

Source: The Hindu[8]
The MDMK, did not contest this seat, instead supported the PMK candidate, which also got the support of DMK and BJP.

Tamil Nadu assembly by-election, 2002: Acharapakkam (SC)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
AIADMK A. Boovaragamoorthy 55,507 53.4%
PMK D. Parventhan 37,590 36.2%
CPI P.S. Ellappan 4,047 3.9%
APMK S.J. Raja 1,928 1.9%
Majority 17,917 3.89% n/a
Turnout 103,911 62.1% n/a
AIADMK gain from PMK Swing

Sathankulam

Source: ECI[9]
Election was necessitated due to death of S.S. Mani Nadar.

Tamil Nadu assembly by-election, 2002-2003: Sathankulam
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
AIADMK L. Neelamegavarnam 56,945 57.0%
INC A. Mahendran 39,453 39.0%
Majority 17,492 18.0% n/a
Turnout 100,446 64.8% n/a
AIADMK gain from Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) Swing

See also

1. ECI Press Release

References

  1. Gopalan, T N (6 March 2003). "Amma in firm control". The Indian Express. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
  2. "EC decision incorrect, says Chidambaram". The Hindu. 21 January 2002. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
  3. "Friendless in Andipatti". The Hindu. 4 December 2001. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
  4. "Welcome to Frontline : Vol. 29 :: No. 19". Hinduonnet.com. Archived from the original on 4 September 2005. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
  5. May 2002 by-election results
  6. "Welcome to Frontline : Vol. 29 :: No. 19". Hinduonnet.com. Archived from the original on 11 August 2010. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
  7. "Ruling party tag helps in Vaniyambadi". The Hindu. 3 June 2002. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
  8. "Dalits favour AIADMK in Acharapakkam". The Hindu. 3 June 2002. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
  9. "bye_HP_AC14". Eci.nic.in. 26 February 2003. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
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