Chennai, Oct. 5 -- The first by-election after Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) came to power four months ago has turned into an acid test for Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay's government, with campaigning for the Madurantakam and Dharapuram Assembly seats ending at 6 PM yesterday.

Polling will be held on Tuesday, October 6, from 7 AM to 6 PM, under heavy security. The Election Commission has banned public meetings and campaigning till 6 AM on polling day and ordered all outsiders to vacate both constituencies.

This is the first electoral battle since the April 23 Assembly elections that brought TVK to power, and a prestige battle for Vijay, who took the unusual step for a sitting Tamil Nadu Chief Minister to aggressively campaign for four ...