DMK Candidate Anniyur Siva Leads in Vikravandi Assembly Bypoll
The ruling DMK appears to be on track for victory in the Vikravandi assembly bypoll, with its candidate Anniyur Siva holding a significant lead over his rivals. As of 1:00 pm, Siva was ahead by a margin of 39,435 votes against his closest competitor, C Anbumani of the PMK.
A total of 29 candidates contested the by-election, which was necessitated by the death of the previous MLA, N Pugazhenthi. The main contest was between the DMK's Siva and the PMK's Anbumani, with the AIADMK boycotting the election due to concerns over fairness under the DMK government.
The bypoll served as a litmus test for the DMK, which has faced criticism over law-and-order issues in recent months. These issues include the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy, where 65 people died after consuming spurious liquor, and the murder of BSP state chief Armstrong.
Vikravandi is one of the 234 assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu and is reserved for general category candidates. It is located in the Viluppuram district and is part of the Viluppuram (SC) Parliament Seat.
According to the 2011 Census, the Vikravandi seat has a significant population of Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) voters, with 63,829 and 2,946 voters respectively. Rural voters also form a majority, constituting around 95.76% of the electorate, while urban voters comprise only 4.24%.
In the 2021 assembly elections, Vikravandi had a total electorate of 234,841 voters, with a nearly equal distribution between male and female voters. The constituency reported a voter turnout of 82.48% on July 10, slightly lower than the 82.53% recorded in the 2021 assembly elections.
In the 2021 Assembly election, Pugazhenthi N of DMK defeated ADMK's Muthamilselvan R by a margin of 9,573 votes, which was 4.97% of the total votes polled.