DMK organisation secretary R.S. Bharathi. File
| Photo Credit: Bijoy Ghosh
The ruling TVK on Monday (September 21, 2026) dropped the names of leaders of its alliance parties from its list of star campaigners for the upcoming Assembly bypolls to Madurantakam and Dharapuram, hours after the DMK submitted a petition to the Election Commission (EC), objecting to it.
Earlier in the day, DMK organisation secretary R.S. Bharathi submitted a complaint to the EC, urging it to cancel the TVK’s list. The DMK said it went against the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and the Model Code of Conduct.
The TVK has named Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president Manickam Tagore, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) leader Thol. Thirumavalavan, Minister Vanni Arasu (VCK), D. Ravikumar (VCK MP), senior VCK leader Sinthanai Selvan, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) general secretary Vaiko, the party’s MP Durai Vaiko, and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader K.M. Kader Mohideen in its list of “star campaigners.”
What does DMK’s complaint say?
In his complaint to Chief Electoral Officer of Tamil Nadu Archana Patnaik, Mr. Bharathi said Section 77(1) of the Representation of the People Act used the expressions “leaders of a political party” and “of that political party” in providing for the exemption of their travel expenses from being included in the election expenditure accounts of individual candidates.
“According to these statutory provisions, a political party can designate only its own leaders and office-bearers as star campaigners. There is no provision under the law permitting a party to list leaders or office-bearers of another recognised political party as its own star campaigners,” he said.
Mr. Bharathi pointed out that, in accordance with the guidelines issued periodically by the Election Commission of India, a political party was required to list only its own leaders to campaign for its candidates. Even in the case of alliance partners, he said, declaring a leader of one party as the official “star campaigner” of another party amounted to misuse of the exemption from election expenditure.
He said recognising individuals from other parties as a party’s star campaigners created a risk of campaign expenses, including travel and accommodation, being unlawfully exempted instead of being debited to the election expenditure limits of candidates in the respective constituencies.
“This completely undermines a level playing field. Furthermore, I wish to emphasise here that this runs entirely contrary to the Election Commission’s foundational principle of conducting free and fair elections,” he said.
Mr. Bharathi also urged the Election Commission to issue directions to ensure that, if leaders of other parties campaigned for TVK candidates, all associated expenses were fully included in the individual candidates’ election expenditure accounts.
Published – September 21, 2026 01:29 pm IST
