By-election forced on people by my political foes: Jayalalithaa

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Monday said the by-election in the Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency, from where she is contesting in order to enter the legislature, was forced on the people due to the conspiracy of her political foes.

Beginning her election campaign, she said: "My aim to win the election emphathetically. Opposition parties are telling various stories for not contesting in the poll."

Wearing a green colour saree, Jayalalithaa addressed the huge crowd while sitting inside her campaign van.

Recalling the 2011 assembly elections, she said that she had requested the people to vote for AIADMK candidate P Vetrivel and he won the contest. The people did not like this by-election when the assembly elections are slated in 2016, she claimed.

Stressing that she is by the people and for the people, Jayalalithaa listed out various welfare schemes implemented by her government.

On the power situation, she said a total capacity of around 4,500 MW was added in the state during the past four years.

Taking dig at the Communist Party of India that has fielded senior leader C Mahendran, the chief minister said the members of the left party have praised the welfare measures of her government in the assembly.

"As a forerunner for the next year's assembly elections, vote for the two leaves (AIADMK's election symbol) and turn me victorious," she appealed.

The Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency that fell vacant after Vetrivel resigned to facilitate Jayalalithaa's re-election to the assembly.

Opposition parties like the DMK, PMK, DMDK, the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress and MDMK have decided to stay away from the June 27 contest.

In the 2011 election, Vetrivel got 83,761 votes while the runner-up was DMK's PK Sekarbabu, who got 52,426 votes.

Jayalalithaa, who was elected from Srirangam in May 2011, lost her seat and the chief minister's post after a trial court in Bengaluru convicted her in the disproportionate assets case.

The Karnataka High Court upheld her appeal and acquitted her of all charges. Jayalalalithaa was again sworn in as chief minister, but she has to get elected to the assembly within six months.