Congress won't contest Tamil Nadu by-election

The Congress on Monday joined the DMK and PMK in keeping itself away from contesting against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa in the Radhakrishnan Nagar bye-election here on June 27.

Tamil Nadu Congress chief E.V.K.S. Elangovan alleged that the election would not be held in a free and fair manner.

The Congress did not take part in the 2011 election from Radhakrishnan Nagar seat which was won by AIADMK's Vetrivel (83,761 votes). The runner up DMK's P.K.Sekarbabu, who got 52,426 votes.

Opposition parties like the DMK, PMK and MDMK have decided to stay away from the June 27 contest.

However, the two Left parties -- CPI and CPI-M -- have decided to propose CPI leader C. Mahendran as their joint candidate against Jayalalithaa.

The votes will be counted on June 30.

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

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.

In 2011, the BJP's K.R. Vinayagam got 1,298 votes in Radhakrishnan Nagar. The BJP and the DMDK have not said whether or not they will contest this time.

The DMDK and Left parties were in alliance with the AIADMK in the 2011 assembly elections.