CHENNAI: With O Pannerselvam and the AMMK backing out of the Erode East bypoll, AIADMK interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami has his task cut out as he has to now win the election and prove to his party workers and people at large that he deserves to be the sole leader of the AIADMK.
AIADMK candidate KS Thennarasu filed his nomination papers on Tuesday, the last day for filing of nomination, at a time when Congress candidate EVKS Elangovan has completed his first phase of campaign.
Congress, AIADMK and Naam Tamilar Katchi candidates are the key contenders left in the fray in this urban constituency with 2.26 lakh voters. The Erode East constituency was created during the 2008 delimitation process and in the past 15 years, the constituency has faced three assembly elections in 2011, 2016, and 2021 and three Lok Sabha elections as part of the Erode Lok Sabha constituency in 2009, 2014 and 2019.
AIADMK leaders say Erode district has always been an AIADMK bastion and are hopeful of victory in the byelection too. Naam Tamilar Katchi led by Seeman secured 11,629 votes and MNM led by Kamal Haasan polled 10,005 votes in the 2021 assembly elections. The MNM has thrown its weight behind the Congress candidate this time.
O Panneerselvam faction has withdrawn its candidate B Senthil Murugan to enable Thennarasu to get the two leaves symbol. The AMMK, which had fielded Siva Prashanth as its candidate, has opted out of the election saying ‘pressure cooker’ symbol was not allotted to the party by the EC. Since the ruling DMK has taken the byelection as a prestigious issue, it has deployed a large chunk of senior leaders and ministers for campaigning and election work in the constituency.
Political analyst Tharasu Shyam said the AIADMK led by EPS has to strive hard to win the byelection. The AIADMK’s performance in the urban local body elections in the constituency, when EPS and OPS were united, was very poor. Though the EPS faction could get the two leaves symbol, the discontentment among supporters of the OPS is simmering even now. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when the AIADMK was in power, DMK candidate polled higher votes than the AIADMK candidate in the assembly segment, Shyam said.
Asked about its poll prospects, AIADMK spokesperson and former minister Vaigai Chelvan said EPS has secured the two leaves symbol after much effort despite many odds. This would be seen as a big achievement by the party cadre, particularly those in Erode constituency. AIADMK legal wing functionary IS Inbadurai said, “A few people backed the efforts of some political parties that wanted to destabilise AIADMK. So, till the last minute, there were efforts to freeze the symbol. There is a strong resentment against the ruling DMK since the party has failed to fulfil its key electoral promises like scrapping NEET and giving Rs.1,000 to women heads of families.”