ERODE: The ruling DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) on Thursday retained the Erode East bypoll segment in this western Tamil Nadu town with an emphatic win against the K Palaniswami-led AIADMK, prompting Chief Minister M K Stalin to bill it as an endorsement of his near two-year-old government's "Dravidian model" of governance.
Palaniswami charged the ruling dispensation with "misuse of authority, money power and violence" to win the election.
Setting a record of sorts, SPA candidate EVKS Elangovan of the Congress received more than one lakh of the around 1.70 lakh votes polled on February 27, galloping ahead of his nearest AIADMK rival KS Thennarasu by around 66,000 votes.
At the end of 15 rounds of counting, Elangovan, a former TNCC president and ex-union minister, polled a little over 1.10 lakh votes, becoming the first candidate to cross the one lakh votes mark in the constituency, since its creation in 2010 following the delimitation excercise.
Thennarasu, a former legislator from here, got around 44,000 votes, according to Election authorities.
Nam Tamizhar Katchi's Meneka Navaneethan and DMDK's Anand forfeited deposit.
A total of 77 candidates were in the fray.
The counting of votes was held at Government Engineering College in Chithode in Erode. Returning Officer K Sivakumar presided over the counting of votes. District Election Officer H Krishnanunni inspected it.
Earlier, DMK alliance cadres were in a jubilant mood as Elangovan's lead kept rising as the counting progressed.
The bypoll was necessitated as Thirumahan Evera, who was the MLA of this constituency and son of EVKS Elangovan, died on January 4 due to ill health.
As it is the first by-election after the DMK came to power in the state, it has attracted attention across the state.
The constituency has 1 lakh 10,713 male voters, 1 lakh 16,140 female voters, and 23 third-gender voters, totalling 2 lakh 26,898 voters in this constituency. Out of this, 1 lakh 70,192 people voted. A total of 77 candidates contested in this by-poll.