 "Campaigning for RK Nagar bypoll ends; Jaya in fight against CPI")
Though there are a total of 28 candidates in the fray but the battle is effectively between Jayalalithaa and CPI's C Mahendran, addressed by his comrades as 'CM'.
This has prompted the Left parties to dub the electoral battle as a 'CM vs CM fight.' CPM is also backing Mahendran. Counting of votes will be taken up on June 30.
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The entire Tamil Nadu cabinet and senior AIADMK leaders met people individually, greeting them with folded hands and seeking votes for 'Amma' during the campaigning.
However, Jayalalithaa on her part addressed only 2 meetings during the bypoll campaign as she assured implementation of her election promises.
She chose to address the meetings in her personal vehicle that had a microphone fitted in it.
The AIADMK supremo, during the campaign, refrained from any vitriolic attack against the opposition, including arch rival DMK, and chose to highlight her four year-old government's achievements in various sectors.
She claimed that main opposition parties had stayed away from contesting as her party could not be defeated. Mahendran for his part has been focusing on local issues affecting the voters of the constituency.
The bypoll has been necessitated to this North Chennai constituency after AIADMK's P Vetrivel had vacated it in May, apparently to enable Jayalalithaa seek re-election.
The AIADMK supremo has to fulfil a constitutional requirement of getting elected as MLA within six months of becoming chief minister. Jayalalithaa returned to the top post on May 23 after securing an acquittal in a wealth case.
She had been convicted in the case in September last by a trial court in Bangalore. Social activist 'Traffic' Ramasamy is among the 26 independent candidates trying his electoral luck. Of the 230 polling booths, 22 have been identified as 'vulnerable' by the Election Commission which has taken up a slew of measures including deploying Central Armed Police Force to ensure conduct of free and fair elections.
The EC has also issued a list of regulations post the end of campaigning period that includes barring public meetings and asking outsiders to leave the constituency. EC has prohibited releasing results of opinion polls and exit polls.
Jaya appeals to voters to give her strong mandate
Facing a crucial election, Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa today once again appealed to the electorate of RK Nagar constituency to give her a strong mandate insisting that the June 27 bypoll here was a result of "political conspiracy" against her.
"Since you are aware of the web of political conspiracy being spun against me or the innumerable attacks being carried out against me, it is not unknown to you that this bypoll is being held because of fate and conspiracy," she said.
Addressing a public rally on Monday, Jayalalithaa had referred to her disqualification as chief minister last year following her conviction in a disproportionate assets case and said there was a 'situation' wherein she could not be the chief minister due to a "politically motivated case".
She had also termed the bypoll as a 'compulsion', recalling how the electorate had given a resounding victory to her colleague P Vetrivel in the 2011 elections.
Seeking a massive mandate as a 'precursor' for next year's Assembly polls, the 67-year-old AIADMK supremo had vowed to relentlessly work for the people of RK Nagar from where she is seeking election to the Assembly post her acquittal in the wealth case.
In a statement here today, Jayalalithaa said she had been targeted for the sole reason of working for the people ever since the day her mentor, AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran, introduced her to politics.
"What keeps me moving is the love and affection we have towards each other. I reach out to the people again and again due to this love," she said.
Referring to the various welfare schemes being implemented by her government, Jayalalithaa urged the voters to vote for her party symbol, the 'Two Leaves,' on Saturday and give her a "grand victory".