ERODE: Erode East, a part of the ancient Kongu Nadu, is all geared up for the bypoll battle. On February 27, voters in the assembly constituency will line up with gusto to exercise their franchise in an election that is seen as a litmus test for both the ruling DMK as well as the faction-ridden AIADMK.
The DMK believes that the result would be considered as the people’s assessment of MK Stalin’s 22-month governance of the state, despite their ally Congress fielding its candidate, and wants to ensure that he wins the election by a huge margin. For AIADMK, especially the EPS camp that ensured a single candidate from the opposition cluster garnering support from OPS camp and BJP, it is nothing short of a fight for existence.
Edappadi K Palaniswami is trying his best to win the by-election and make sure that the Kongu region (Western Tamil Nadu) still remains an AIADMK fortress under his leadership. He doesn’t leave any stone unturned while accusing the DMK government for its failure to fulfil poll promises, while hiking property tax and milk price, bringing the middle class to suffer. What worries him is the trend of the ruling party holding an upper hand in the by-elections.
The constituency, newly created during the 2008 delimitation, fell vacant following the sudden demise of Congress MLA E Thirumagan Evera, who died of cardiac arrest on January 4. The main battle is between the Congress candidate EVKS Elangovan, Thirumagan’s father, and AIADMK candidate KS Thennarasu. Remaining 75 candidates in the fray are unlikely to hold any significant sway.
Of course, caste equations will play a critical role. The constituency is dominated by Senguntha Mudhaliyar and Kongu Vellala Gounder, who comprises 35% and 30% of the population respectively, followed by 15% minority voters. The remaining 20% include Nadar, Thevar, Nayakkar, Chettiar, Scheduled Caste and natives of other states who settled in this agricultural, textile and a BPO hub.
In the 2021 assembly election, Congress won the seat by a margin of 8,904. In the previous election, it favoured AIADMK, with Thennarasu K S winning it by 7,794 votes. This time, DMK and the Congress didn’t want to take a chance. The Congress high command cleared the name of Elangovan, despite the fact that he had sought a ticket for his younger son Sanjay Sampath.
On his part, EPS wanted to take the fight to the ruling DMK and fielded his own candidate KS Thennarasu, after convincing Tamil Maanila Congress president GK Vasan. Palaniswami thinks by winning the by-election for his party, he can emerge as the most powerful leader in the party, overcoming ongoing differences with OPS.
Thennarasu is confident of winning the bypoll. “After winning the 2016 assembly election from Erode East, I brought many projects like flyovers, new buildings for a government hospital, collectorate and market complex. People in this constituency know me well, I also know their needs and will take steps to fulfil them.”
Elangovan, who began his campaigning soon after the bypoll was announced, has covered quite a distance by meeting people personally. “I will take steps to solve their grievances. Roads are in bad condition in some places, which will be repaired. About 2,000 people in the constituency do not have housing patta and I will take steps to get patta for all.”
DMK hopes to win it by a huge margin. S Muthusamy, housing and urban development minister, said, “Our chances of victory in the by-election are bright. We are well received by the people in the constituency.” Political observers, however, insist that the victory margin would be thin.
