ERODE: Following the death of senior Congress leader EVKS Elangovan, Erode East Assembly constituency is facing its second by-election in two years.
So far, the constituency, which was formed after the delimitation in 2008, has faced three Assembly elections — in 2011, 2016 and 2021 — and one by-election in 2023.
In 2021, Congress candidate E Thirumagan Everaa, son of EVKS Elangovan, defeated Tamil Maanila Congress candidate M Yuvaraja to win from the constituency. However, on January 4, 2023, Thirumagan Everaa died of heart attack, and his father EVKS Elangovan, grandnephew of Periyar EV Ramasamy, was fielded from the constituency. A posse of leaders including Chief Minister MK Stalin, Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin and Congress leaders campaigned for him, leading to Elangovan winning the election that was held on February 27, 2023 by a margin of 66,000 votes, defeating AIADMK candidate KS Thennarasu.
On the possibility of by-election, a senior official of the district administration said a report on the death of Elangovan will be sent to the state election commission, and it will send its report to central election commission. “The rule says if an MLA dies during his tenure, a new MLA should be elected within six months. The current DMK regime still has more than a year to complete its tenure. Hence, another by-election for the Erode East constituency is likely to be announced soon,” he said.
Meanwhile, Elangovan’s demise has spread grief among the political party functionaries and the public. Tributes were paid by Congress party functionaries and other party functionaries at EVKS Elangovan’s house in Erode.