Whenever Pongal or Diwali comes around... former minister C. Vijayabaskar has long had the habit of showering the voters of the Viralimalai constituency in Pudukkottai district with gifts and sweets.
Now, with a by-election to the constituency also drawing near, do we even need to ask?
On one side there is the Diwali gift, and on the other, the Enforcement Department’s investigation... the Viralimalai arena is now exploding like fireworks!
‘Rasgulla with a whistle!
Vijayabaskar won on behalf of the AIADMK in the 2026 general election, but just 38 days after becoming an MLA, he abruptly resigned from office and switched to the TVK. Even before joining TVK, in June, he launched his first move to retain his constituency by saying he was thanking voters and distributing special gift kits door to door, each containing stainless steel utensils, a sweet box, a pen, and a thank-you letter.
Now that the by-election field has heated up with the TTVK joining in, in the same style he has launched the next move by sending a greeting bag right to the homes of constituency voters, containing 2 kg of sweets in an Ever Silver tin box with rasgulla and gulab jamun, along with TTVK’s election symbol, the “whistle.”
Sengottaiyan’s signal...!
Senior leader K.A. Sengottaiyan had recently hinted from the stage, setting off a storm, that C. Vijayabaskar would be the one to contest as TVK’s candidate in the by-election. However, C.V.P. is now facing successive legal troubles, including an Enforcement Directorate inquiry summons and a disproportionate assets case, which has caused a stir among party members.
TVK, which keeps proclaiming, “We are a clean political force,” is now facing the question of how it can field as its candidate someone caught in an corruption case and under the ED’s scanner. The opposition parties are also waiting to turn this into a major campaign issue.
Seat again..?
Already, in the by-elections in Dharapuram and Madurantakam, TVK had a hard time because it fielded candidates who had come over from AIADMK again. After that 'disastrous experiment' experience, TVK's leadership is thinking very carefully. Meanwhile, Murugesan, who contested on behalf of TVK in Viralimalai in the last general election and finished second, is also making intense efforts to somehow use this situation to secure the by-election ticket for himself.
On the other hand, the DMK has also rolled up its sleeves and begun work with the determination to somehow wrest Viralimalai back from the AIADMK. The AIADMK, too, is waiting for the right time to take revenge on Vijayabaskar, who abandoned the two-leaf symbol and ran away.
The legal tangle closing in..!
The corruption case, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, and on top of that the Enforcement Directorate’s summons have surrounded Vijayabaskar and his wife Ramya with legal troubles. They have also been ordered to appear at the Chennai regional office tomorrow (November 6), Friday.
On one side are the ED’s summons, the corruption case, and the internal party competition over getting a seat; despite all this, Vijayabaskar is buzzing around like a top in the by-election campaign, going from house to house with rasgullas and ‘whistle’ gifts.!