RK Nagar election: From coffins to cookers, 5 objects that tell the story of the battle for Jayalalithaa's seat

Early trends showed independent candidate TTV Dhinakaran leading in the RK Nagar by-election, the electoral battle for the assembly constituency from which the late Jayalalithaa won two elections, including her very last one.

The RK Nagar saga began early this year, when the by-election was scheduled to be held in April. But that turned out to be a false start: Evidence of bribery and corruption forced the Election Commission to cancel that poll.

But on Thursday, voters in the north Chennai constituency filed into booths to pick one of 56 candidates - including the AIADMK's E Madhusudhanan, TTV Dhinakaran and the DMK's Marudhu Ganesh.

Few by-polls are watched as closely as the RK Nagar by-election has been followed. Five objects - a coffin, a pressure cooker, a packet of biriyani, a hospital bed, and an electronic voting machine (EVM) - suffice to tell the story of this unique election. Over to them!

1. COFFIN: Before the first RK Nagar by-election, a faction of the AIADMK led by O Panneerselvam* publicly displayed a coffin with a figurine of Jayalaliatha a during campaigning. Emotional appeals are one thing, but this stunt drew protests, and an FIR was filed against K Pandiarajan. The decision to display the coffin was "intended to highlight" the Panneerselvam factions' demand for a probe into Jayalalithaa's death.

The coffin incident illustrates why the RK Nagar bypoll is so politically significant: it is essentially a battle for Jayalalithaa's legacy.

* Panneerselvam has since merged his camp with a larger group of AIADMK MLAs, which then sidelined TTV Dhinakaran and his aunt, VK Sasikala. He is Tamil Nadu's deputy chief minister.

2. PRESSURE COOKER: The pressure cooker is TTV Dhinakaran's election symbol. He couldn't get the AIADMK's iconic two leaves symbol, for the united faction led by Panneerselvam and Chief Minister Palaniswami has now been granted the right to use it. Before the poll, the AIADMK's candidate complained to the Election Commission on that pressure cookers being distributed "under the instruction "of TTV Dhinakaran (and worth Rs 1.50 crore) were the "undisclosed stock" of a shop that hadn't "transact(ed) any business" for three years. He said the I-T department had raided that store.

3. PACKET OF BIRIYANI: 'Panapattuvaadaa,' is a Tamil word used to refer to the distribution of money in exchange for votes. Unfortunately, that word has been used far too often to describe goings-on in RK Nagar this year. In fact, as we've said earlier, the by-election had to be cancelled once after it emerged that voters were being bribed. So where does the biryani come in?

Well, during the campaign for the second RK Nagar by-election, men were caught distributing packets of the flavoured rice dish, along with Rs 2,000 notes. And an India Today TV investigation, too, discovered how campaigners were used money to try and engineer a result.

LIVE BLOG | All the latest updates from Chennai's RK Nagar

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4. HOSPITAL BED: Two days before the RK Nagar by-election, an MLA named Vetrivel released a controversial video that purportedly showed Jayalalithaa sitting on a hospital bed. The Election Commission's chief in Tamil Nadu, Rajesh Lakhoni, called it a "big violation" of the model code of conduct. Police have released two cases against Vetrivel, the Hindu reported.

Vetrivel may be a member of TTV Dhinakaran's camp, but the candidate has said an aide released it without informing him, according to an PTI report. The news agency also quoted him as saying his aunt Sasikala had filmed the clip last November.

5. ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINE: The EVM represents the Election Commission, which for obvious reasons (few of them were happy reasons) has often found itself in the news in the run-up to the RK Nagar by-election.

It had to scrap the first bypoll.

There is an Election Commission bribery case: A middleman is accused of taking money from TTV Dhinakaran to bribe EC officials in an attempt to get the AIADMK's symbol (Dhinakaran was arrested in the case, but later released on bail.)

Ahead of the second vote, the poll panel announced a series of measures it would take to ensure a fair election.

Recently, MK Stalin wrote to it alleging that the AIAMDK had spent Rs 100 crore on bribing voters.

And today, TTV Dhinakaran's supporters complained that AIADMK men tried to destroy EVMs at a counting centre!

(Inputs from Akshaya Nath, Priyamvatha P, and news agency PTI)

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WATCH | Biggest expose before RK Nagar bypoll: India Today sting triggers Election Commission probe