PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss has made a dramatic announcement that there will be no support for any party in the by-elections in Madurantakam and Dharapuram. While it was expected that PMK would support the AIADMK one way or another, Anbumani Ramadoss has issued this sudden announcement as an unexpected twist. What is the politics behind this announcement?
In the 2026 Assembly election, after the T.V.K. formed the government, A.D.M.K. MLAs Madurantakam Maragatham Kumaravel, Dharapuram Sathyabama, Karur M.R. Vijayabaskar, Viralimalai C. Vijayabaskar, Ambasamudram Isakki Subbiah, and Perundurai Jayakumar resigned. Chief Minister Vijay, who won in two constituencies, resigned from the Tiruchirappalli East constituency.
In this situation, the Election Commission declared 7 constituencies vacant. Meanwhile, by-elections have been announced for only 2 constituencies, Dharapuram and Madurantakam, and voting is set to take place on the sixth. A five-cornered contest has emerged among TVK, DMK, AIADMK, NTK, and the Communist parties. In this context, there was anticipation over whom the influential PMK in the Madurantakam constituency would support. It was also said that there was a strong possibility of supporting the AIADMK, as in the previous election. In this situation, PMK has announced that it will not support anyone. We spoke to party circles about the background behind this..,
``The main reason for this is the indifferent attitude of the AIADMK members, especially Edappadi Palaniswami’s. Even during the last Assembly election, they not only reduced the constituencies allotted to us citing internal party issues, but also did not give us the constituencies we asked for. Moreover, in many constituencies, while our votes went to AIADMK candidates, their votes did not come to us to that extent. In Dharmapuri, we enabled them to win in 3 constituencies. But even in Pennagaram, their votes did not come to us.
It was the same in Tiruvannamalai district as well; all the AIADMK functionaries in Polur worked for Jayasudha, who contested in Arani. They abandoned our candidate. Edappadi Palaniswami did not care about that. Not only that, how many votes did the AIADMK candidates get in the Perambur constituency in the 2016 and 2021 elections, and in the 2026 election Tilagabama got only 8,500 votes.
Where did all the AIADMK votes go? If Jayalalithaa were the party leadership, would things like this happen? It is only because Edappadi Palaniswami is an ineffective leader that the functionaries are being careless.
Leaving all that aside, who is this by-election now being held a do-or-die battle for—us or the AIADMK? It is they who are under pressure to win. But instead of conducting proper negotiations, they are behaving in a half-hearted, indifferent manner.
The reason is that Edappadi Palaniswami thinks it is enough if he wins in Dharapuram. He does not place much importance on Madurantakam. He is not even willing to come down and ask us for support. He expects us to extend support on our own. Why should we go out of our way? Some criticize that economic factors are the reason. It is true that he did not extend the right level of support to us in the 2026 election. But in this election, we do not need such support. A person who refuses to accommodate even his own party functionaries—what political benefit would the PMK gain by allying with someone who lacks leadership? This decision has been made keeping in mind our future as well as from that perspective,'' they say.
Speaking in AIADMK circles,
``They were in alliance with us. Now their expectations are high. Not only that, they have taken such a decision to indirectly support TVK'' they concluded.