MADURANTAKAM: With just four days left for the Oct 6 bypolls, Tamil Nadu chief minister and TVK president C Joseph Vijay on Friday took his campaign through more than 30 villages in Madurantakam assembly constituency, covering 45 km in a roadshow to seek votes for party candidate Maragatham Kumaravel.The roadshow began in Mamandur at 2pm. The campaign van stopped at several points along the route where Vijay interacted with residents. The campaign included a tea break at a roadside shop in Endathur and an interaction with a disabled person waiting on the roadside. He drove a tractor briefly through farmland and spoke to women working in the fields.The roadshow drew crowds along several stretches, with people gathering outside their homes and at junctions to catch a glimpse of Vijay. TVK cadres and supporters of alliance partners, including VCK, assembled at various points. Many party functionaries and supporters gathered in Mambakkam where the roadshow concluded at 6.30pm, after four and a half hours. At several stops, Vijay was presented with vels (spheres), photo frames and shawls. The party has also organised music and cultural programmes at several spots to entertain the waiting crowd.Ministers N Anand and Aadhav Arjuna accompanied Vijay during the roadshow.A few PMK flags were also spotted along the route, despite party leader Anbumani Ramadoss announcing that his party would not support any of the candidates in the bypolls. PMK was part of the AIADMK-led alliance in the April 23 assembly election, in which Kumaravel won the Madurantakam seat on the AIADMK’s two leaves symbol. The presence of the flags, however, does not establish any change in the party’s official position. In fact, Anbumani was critical of TVK and its candidate during a media interaction during the day. He said Kumaravel undermined and disrespected the hard work of PMK functionaries and cadres, who worked for her victory as part of the AIADMK-led NDA front.The bypoll was necessitated by Kumaravel’s resignation after she quit the AIADMK and joined the TVK along with Dharapuram MLA P Sathyabama. Both had won their respective constituencies on the AIADMK symbol in the April 23 election before resigning and joining the ruling party.This was Vijay’s second visit to Madurantakam to campaign for Kumaravel. On Sept 25, he addressed a public meeting at Athur and tasked senior leaders, including N Anand and Aadhav Arjuna, along with other ministers, to campaign for her.The roadshow came against the backdrop of an increasingly intense contest, with the DMK, AIADMK and Left parties separately targeting TVK over alleged “horse-trading.” They made it a campaign issue by appealing to voters to reject such practices.The bypolls in Madurantakam and Dharapuram are significant for TVK, which has 107 MLAs. The Tamil Nadu assembly has a total strength of 234 elected members.On Thursday, leaders of the TVK-led Secular Social Justice Victory Alliance, including VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan, TNCC leader Manickam Tagore, MDMK general secretary Vaiko and representatives of the IUML, jointly campaigned for Kumaravel. They urged alliance cadres to intensify their efforts to secure her victory.