P Chidambaram stated that the AIADMK's decision to boycott the poll was "clear evidence that it has received instructions from the 'top' to facilitate the electoral chances of the NDA candidate (PMK)." The AIADMK has opted to boycott the bypoll for the Vikravandi Assembly constituency, leaving the field open for a direct confrontation between the NDA and the ruling DMK. S Ramadoss, founder of the Pattali Makkal Katchi, a constituent of the BJP-led NDA in Tamil Nadu, has stated that his party's vice-president, C Anbumani, will run in the Vikravandi byelection. AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami declared on Saturday that his party will boycott the byelection in Vikravandi, which the DMK won by roughly 10,000 votes in 2021. He claimed that state ministers and DMK workers will not only abuse their power, but will also incite violence and lawlessness, preventing people from voting freely. As a result, the byelection will be neither fair nor free.
The AIADMK general secretary cited several previous allegations made against the ruling party, including the 'Thirumangalam formula' and the 'Erode East formula,' of confining people in'sheds' like cattle to prevent the opposition party from reaching out to them and winning their votes through allurements. However, the DMK denounced all such charges as unfounded. The 'Thirumngalam formula' refers to the opposition's claim of inducement/cash for votes in the Thirumangalam Assembly segment in a byelection held in 2009 during the DMK government.
A byelection for the Erode East Assembly constituency was held in 2023, and DMK ally Congress party senior leader EVKS Elangovan won. Responding to this outcome, Tamil Nadu BJP Vice President Narayanan Thirupathy stated unequivocally that the saffron party had pushed the AIADMK to third place. "They all know we are very strong, and they are worried they will be exposed in these midterm elections. As an opposition party, they should have run in this election.
However, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram stated that the AIADMK's decision to boycott the election is "clear evidence that it has received instructions from the 'top' to facilitate the electoral chances of the NDA candidate (PMK)." "Both the BJP and the AIADMK are battling via a proxy (PMK). The I.N.D.I.A. coalition must assure the DMK candidate's landslide win," he stated. After the DMK-led INDIA bloc swept the Lok Sabha elections in the southern state, some AIADMK and BJP officials claimed that if they had run together, the ruling party alliance would not have won all seats. Former BJP state president Tamilsai Soundararajan, who ran from South Chennai but lost, said the saffron party could have done better if it had established an alliance with the AIADMK. She also backed an AIADMK representative who said that the BJP's state chairman, K Annamalai, was to blame for the split between the parties. "What he (Velumani) said was realistic. If the BJP had formed an alliance with the AIADMK, the DMK would not have won all of the seats. This is polling arithmetic. Alliance is simply a political strategy... "This [Velumani's viewpoint] is reasonable and should be accepted," she remarked.
