Friday, April 15 2005 15:12 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Chennai: By-elections to two Tamil Nadu Assembly constituencies are to be held on May 14 next. The constituencies, which go to the by polls, are Kancheepuram and Gummidipundi.

The notification for the by polls would be issued on April 18 and nomination would close on April 25 while counting would be taken on May 16, an Election Commission press release said In Chennai, today (Apr 15, 2005).

The by-elections have been necessitated by the death of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) members S S Thirunavukkarassu (Kancheepuram) and K Sudarsanam (Gummudipoondi), both former Ministers.

While Thirunavukkarassu died of cancer on November 22 last, Sudarsanam was murdered by a group of dacoits at his house on January 9.

The ruling AIADMK had expressed its reservations on conducting the by polls on the plea that it would hamper the tsunami relief work in these areas while the Opposition wanted the Election Commission to fulfill the Constitutional obligation of holding the by polls.

The Election Commission had recently deputed a team to assess the conditions before taking a decision on the elections.

However, those who are to be elected from these constituencies would have tenure of less than one year, as the State would have assembly polls in May 2006. The by-elections would be an acid test for both the ruling AIADMK and the Opposition DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance. The AIADMK had won all the previous by polls in the State, barring the one at Mangalore, held along with the Lok Sabha polls last year (2004), where the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) nominee, Ganesan won.