Even as the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) moved the Election Commission of India (ECI) against former chief minister M.K. Stalin’s remarks about its Dharapuram candidate, P. Sathyabama, posters with politically pointed questions have been put up across Dharapuram.
Posters questioning the reason for Sathyabama’s resignation as an MLA and her decision to re-enter the electoral fray on a different party’s ticket have been purportedly put up in the name of the people of Dharapuram. “Why this resignation? Who asked you to commit this betrayal? And after winning, why did you abandon the people of Dharapuram?” read the posters.
They have been put up in several villages around Dharapuram, including Madathupalayam, Chinna Goundampalayam, Panamarathupalayam, Uppar Dam, and along the road leading to Poolavadi.
Sathyabhama, who won on an AIADMK ticket in the April 23 elections, switched to the TVK within 29 days after submitting her resignation. This had apparently triggered uneasiness among the people of Dharapuram, which is primarily considered an AIADMK bastion. The issue came up when people in a few of the villages around Dharapuram confronted her during her visits to seek votes for the re-election.
At Periyakumarapalayam panchayat near Kundadam, people confronted her, and there was a heated exchange between the TVK supporters, Sathyabama and the people. Later, Sathyabama and the TVK members appealed to the people and told them that they could vote for whomever they wished. She left the panchayat, cutting short her campaign, saying that only those who wished could vote for the TVK.
Later, a similar confrontation arose at Nallipalayam, also near Kundadam. People alleged that she took money and switched to the TVK. She, however, stated in the name of her children that she had not taken any money for switching camps and that it was only because the DMK and the AIADMK tried to come together. However, this campaign about her switching sides continues to haunt the TVK throughout the entire campaign, even when it is ahead in the by-poll race.
