Dharapuram AIADMK MLA joined TVK after betrayal; No horse-trading: CM Vijay

Campaigning in the bypoll-bound Dharapuram assembly constituency in Western Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister and TVK supremo Vijay said that his party's candidate Sathyabama had quit her office as an AIADMK MLA and joined TVK, "owing to a betrayal by the AIADMK and not due to horse-trading".
Sathyabama is one among six MLAs who got elected as MLAs by contesting on AIADMK tickets but resigned their elected office and jumped ship to the ruling TVK, necessitating vacancies and bypolls. In the summer 2026 Tamil Nadu assembly polls, Vijay's debutant TVK party fell short of an individual majority and later formed a coalition government, while the established giants DMK and AIADMK were pushed to the second and third places.

"Sathyabama is a true follower of AIADMK founder M. G. Ramachandran(MGR) and party supremo J. Jayalalithaa (both former multiple-term Chief Ministers)... When she learnt that AIADMK is planning to ally with archrival DMK, she felt that the party was betraying MGR and Jayalalithaa, who staunchly opposed the DMK. She could not tolerate this betrayal. That is why she formally resigned as an MLA and joined us (TKV). There was no horse-trading or whatever...," said Chief Minister Vijay. This is seen as Vijay's response to DMK and AIADMK, who have been alleging that the TVK is buying opposition MLAs through unfair means.

Regarding his four-month tenure at the helm of the state, Vijay said that the TVK Government has been fulfilling their pre-poll promises: we are ensuring corruption-free governance, we shut down government liquor outlets near temples and schools, we are providing 200 units of free electricity, we launched the Singappen Special task force to tackle crimes against women and kids, we will offer free bus travel for women from October 2nd, we will offer free LPG cylinders from the Pongal festival in January 2027.

Attacking the principal opposition party DMK, Vijay said, "Former Chief Minister MK Stalin's party still believes they are in power; people are their slaves. We (TKV) do not have that dynastic mentality. We follow the true ideals of DMK founder and former Chief Minister Annadurai, who said: go to the people and be amidst them."

Taking a dig at DMK's brand of secularism (of not conveying wishes on Hindu festivals), Vijay said, "All religions are ours...
We had said that we are believers and that we don't oppose anyone's belief. We will wish people for Krishna Jayanthi, for Christmas, and for Bakrid... All religious festivals are one and the same for us. We are not DMK to put a scene," he said. Further, Vijay accused the DMK of trying to carry out sabotage against his government, adding confidently that people and God are on his side. Claiming to be like AIADMK leaders MGR and Jayalalithaa, Vijay said that he was taking on the "evil force" DMK, just like they had done.

Why do the bypolls matter to Vijay's TVK?

Dharapuram and Madurantakam go to the polls on October 6th, while bypolls are due in five other seats. Vijay's TVK has 107 MLAs in the house, but his government remains in power due to the support of coalition partners: Congress (five seats), VCK (two seats), IUML (two seats), and the external support of Left parties (four seats). The halfway mark in the Tamil Nadu assembly is 118, and Vijay's coalition has the backing of 120 MLAs. However, differences have started to emerge in the barely five-month-old coalition. Leaders from Congress and left parties have even publicly threatened to quit the coalition. With a total of seven seats up for grabs in the bypolls (two on October 6th and five to be announced), Vijay's TVK has a chance to tighten its grip on power while reducing dependence on allies that are playing hardball. Winning the bypolls would also signal that Vijay's personality cult-centric politics is sustaining itself well among the masses, despite heavy opposition criticism of it being a "reel-based governance focused on optics and not real issues".