Coimbatore: The demise of R Kanagaraj has necessitated a byelection to one more constituency in the state.Five sitting MLAs, including former chief ministers M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa, have passed away during their term since the 2016 assembly election.Now, the total number of assembly segments without an MLA stands at 22 in the state. Kanagaraj’s death has come as a setback to the party at a time when the AIADMK is facing one of its toughest elections. A familiar face across the rural segment of Sulur who took everyone along, Kanagaraj’s death is a loss to the party in the region. More so for chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, at a time when he is battling to mop up enough strength in the state assembly to maintain majority and keep the government stable.While 18 seats went vacant after the MLAs representing those segments were disqualified by the speaker for supporting T T V Dhinakaran, two segments - Tiruvarur and Tiruparankundram - fell vacant after M Karunanidhi and AIADMK leader A K Bose passed away. Hosur constituency went without an MLA after its legislator Balakrishna Reddy was convicted in an arson case.Till Kanagaraj’s death, the AIADMK, with 114 MLAs (excluding speaker) in the house of 213 had a comfortable majority as the halfway mark was 107. Until the Sulur vacancy is notified, the status quo will remain and the party would require 116 MLAs to stay in power after the bypoll results are declared on May 23.But the situation is not as simple because Karunaas and Thamimun Ansari, who contested on ‘two leaves’ symbol are opposing the AIADMK now. Three other AIADMK MLAs have also been openly supporting Dhinakaran, bringing down the effective strength of the ruling party further down. If Sulur segment also gets declared vacant and a bypoll is announced, woes of the AIADMK would mount.

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