Madurantakam and Dharapuram elections may test AIADMK’s hold on Scheduled Caste voters

Some AIADMK leaders are confident that the party will bounce back in the by-elections as people have “started to realize” that they have made a “wrong decision”. | Photo credit: S. Siva Saravanan

The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), which has fielded its candidates in the by-elections to Madurantakam and Dharapuram assembly constituencies, both reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs), hopes to reverse the trend of declining wealth in its SC base.

After the party won the highest number of 32 out of 44 reserved seats in the 2016 assembly elections, its tally among SC constituencies went south. In 2021 it was 15 and five years later it dropped to eight. Of the newly elected SC AIADMK legislators, two – K. Maragatham Kumaravel and P. Sathyabama – left the organization after they voted in favor of the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in a confidence motion on the floor of the Assembly in mid-May.

CK Thamizharasan, a four-time MLA who was elected three times on an AIADMK ticket, blames the current party leadership for not continuing the pro-SC policy when in power and strategizing, during the polls, to win the community’s vote. Recalling the abolition of the hereditary system of Village Officers (VOs) and the appointment of SCs in the existing Village Administrative Officers (VAO) scheme when party founder MG Ramachandran was Chief Minister in the early 1980s, Mr Thamizharasan describes the move as a “revolutionary step”. Also, when Jayalalithaa was in power from 2011-16, her government relaxed the post matriculation scholarship scheme norms for SC/Scheduled Tribes (STs) students to study engineering and other professional courses. But after her death, the eligibility conditions were “strict”, making the program for SC students “virtually out of the question”, Mr. Tamizharasan pointed out. He points out that the SC vote bank has fragmented over the years and although the TVK regime has eight SC ministers, the ruling party has not “voluntarily” included them.

The table shows the performance of AIADMK in assembly elections

Year Scheduled Caste Seats Won Total Seats Won1977201301980201291984231321989 (JL)627199131164199614200121132200611612011281512011281502301603

Note: JL- Jayalalithaa. In 1989, two factions of the party were at war, one of which she led.

Cabinet representation

However, M. Anandan, one of the newly appointed Deputy General Secretaries of the TVK and who was an Adi-Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Minister in the first cabinet of Jayalalithaa’s regime (1991-96), disputes the view regarding the accommodation of SC ministers, saying that although DMK and AIADMK collectively had “SCf60” representation, their performance represented almost all of them together. was “poor” while TVK in its organizational scheme of things gives SC as much importance as others.

AIADMK Rajya Sabha member M Dhanapal says party general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami is following in the footsteps of his predecessors, MGR and Jayalalithaa, who “went out of the way” to meet the SC. Claiming that Mr. Palaniswami as Chief Minister has introduced many welfare schemes for SCs, the MP refers to the rural housing scheme which he says has benefited the community. Under the organisation, former minister Varagur A. Arunachalam, who belongs to the community, has been appointed as the head office secretary, which is “next to” the general secretary, adds Mr Dhanapal.

V. Sampathkumar, Harur MLA and party secretary of the Harur (North) panchayat union, points out that the 7.5% horizontal reservation scheme for government school students, launched during Mr. Palaniswami’s chief ministership, “was a big hit” among SCs for the simple reason that a large section of the community continues to study only in government schools. In addition, many other welfare measures, such as the distribution of dairy cows/sheep, “have meant a lot to the community”.

The MPs and Harur MLA are confident that the AIADMK will bounce back in the by-election as people have “started to understand” that they have taken a “wrong decision”.

Published – 26 Sep 2026 23:41 IST