Chennai

All arrangements are in place for the bypoll campaign of Chief Minister and TVK founder C Joseph Vijay in the Dharapuram Assembly Constituency, party sources said on Wednesday.

As Vijay had time and again positioned himself as the successor to the welfare legacy of iconic AIADMK leaders M G Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa, his campaign at Dharapuram, which is a part of western Tamil Nadu, an AIADMK stronghold, has attracted more attention.

Vijay is expected to start his campaign by 3 pm.

Following MGR and 'Madam' Jayalalithaa, it was he who had been opposing the "evil force DMK," the TVK chief campaigned in Madurantakam constituency days ago, which will also go to polls alongside Dharapuram on October 6.

The TVK's poll plank assumes more significance as the western parts of Tamil Nadu had traditionally been a fortress of the AIADMK, which was pushed to the third spot in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly election.

The bypolls were necessitated due to the resignations of AIADMK MLAs K Maragatham Kumaravel (Madurantakam), and P Sathyabama (Dharapuram), who later joined the ruling TVK.

The two former AIADMK functionaries have been renominated from Madurantakam and Dharapuram respectively by the TVK.

In 2021 Assembly polls, Tamil Nadu BJP leader L Murugan, then chief of the state unit, was defeated in Dharapuram by DMK's N Kayalvizhi by a narrow margin of 1,393 votes. The BJP fought the 2021 polls in alliance with the AIADMK.

In 2026 polls, AIADMK secured 40.56 per centage of votes in Dharapuram (Reserved constituency) and emerged the winner, followed by the DMK with 32.20 per cent and the TVK was relegated to the third spot with 23.23 per cent.

While leaders usually address public meetings from a stage at a venue, and use vehicles for roadshows, the actor-turned politician has all along preferred his campaign vehicle, a caravan, for all kinds of public outreach programmes, including election campaigns.

The TVK chief's vehicle, a bus transformed into a motorhome, has now become pretty popular, and it has already arrived at the sprawling venue in Dharapuram.

Vijay is scheduled to leave Chennai by 11.45 am for Coimbatore by a special flight, from where he is set to reach Dharapuram by road.

Police said elaborate security arrangements have been made for the meeting and about 3,000 personnel have been deployed.

The TVK has already said that entry to the venue is restricted to QR code passes.

Only 5,000 people who have been provided with entry passes featuring QR code will be allowed to attend the event, according to the ruling party.

Vijay will hold his poll campaign at Chitravuthanpalayam in Dharapuram, which falls under Tiruppur district.

The party has advised pregnant women, children, school students, senior citizens, differently-abled persons, and individuals with underlying health conditions to not attend the rally.

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Arrangements are in place to provide basic amenities, including drinking water and medical teams have also been deployed at the venue.