ERODE: Tamil Nadu Housing and Urban Development Minister and DMK’s Erode South District Secretary S Muthusamy said that he is confident that the DMK candidate of the Erode East constituency by-election will win by a margin of 1.2 lakh votes.
Presiding over the first consultative meeting of the INDIA alliance parties held in Erode on Sunday, MP Anthiyur P Selvaraj introduced the candidate V C Chandrakumar, who will be contesting in the by-election.
Speaking to reporters in Erode, Minister S Muthusamy said, “Some may be upset that the DMK candidate has been announced in the INDIA alliance for the Erode East by-election. We respect that. However, due to some circumstances, DMK is currently contesting in Erode East. Congress has given this constituency to DMK. Four DMK functionaries expressed their interest in contesting in the by-election. However, our president has given a chance to Chandrakumar.”
“Chandrakumar will file his nomination on January 17. We are going to start the election campaign on Monday. We will adhere to the code of conduct and carry out the election campaign in collaboration with the allied parties. We hope to win the by-election by a margin of 1.2 lakh votes. We are saying this based on the welcome given by the people when Chief Minister M K Stalin visited Erode recently,” he added.
Talking about AIADMK’s by-election boycott, the minister said, “As for the AIADMK, the party’s key functionaries have taken a decision. We oppose their claim that they are boycotting the current by-election due to violations that occurred in the by-election that took place earlier. We don’t hold the hands of voters and make them vote.”
Further, he said, “Chief Minister M K Stalin has fulfilled all the promises he had made before the polls. When we will campaign for the by-election, we will meet people and highlight the achievements of DMK to them.” Functionaries of alliance parties including Congress and the Communist Party participated in the meeting.