CHENNAI: The political parties in Tamil Nadu will go into election mode again as the Election Commission of India has announced the by-election to the Erode (East) Assembly constituency on February 5. The seat fell vacant following the death of MLA and Congress leader EVKS Elangovan on December 14.
The model code of conduct has come into force in Erode district. According to ECI’s notification, the filing of nominations will start on January 10 and end by January 17. Scrutiny of nominations will take place on January 18 and last date for withdrawal of nominations will be January 20.
Polling will take place on February 5 and votes will be counted on February 8. Of the 2,26,433 voters in the constituency, 1,09,636 are male, 1,16,760 are women, and 37 are other voters.
Meanwhile, District Collector Raja Gopal Sunkara, who is also the Returning Officer, on Tuesday evening said that candidates can file nominations for the bypoll only on three days (January 10, 13 and 17) due to the weekend and Pongal holidays.
“Nominations can be filed only on January 10, 13 and 17 due to Pongal holidays,” he said.
This is the second by-election to the constituency in the 16th Tamil Nadu Assembly that was formed in 2021. Thirumagan Evera, son of EVKS Elangovan who represented the constituency, died on January 4, 2023. Following this, Elangovan contested the bypoll in February 2023 and got elected. But within two years, Elangovan too had died due to illness.
The by-election may be another litmus test for the Dravidian rivals — ruling DMK and principal opposition AIADMK.
The bypoll has come at a time when the DMK government is facing criticism from opposition parties over alleged poor law and order, increase in taxes, and failure to fulfill poll promises.
While the ruling DMK would strive hard for the victory of its alliance to show that there is no anti-incumbency, AIADMK, which has not tasted electoral success for some time, may try to prove its strength.
With the alliance between AIADMK and BJP breaking up after the last bypoll, this election will be a multi-cornered contest. During the last bypoll in 2023, AIADMK contested while former CM O Panneerselvam and AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran, who had initially fielded their candidates but withdrew from the race reportedly on the request of BJP.
However, despite contesting in the popular ‘two-leaves’ symbol, AIADMK candidate KS Thennarasu lost by securing just 25.75% votes while Elangovan secured 66.82% votes. AIADMK alliance blamed money power and misuse of official machinery for the DMK alliance’s victory.
A few hours after the ECI’s announcement on Tuesday, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami announced a meeting of party’s district secretaries on January 11.
The meeting is expected to discuss the party’s stand regarding contesting the by-election. The AIADMK skipped the by-election to the Kallakurichi Assembly constituency in July 2024, alleging lack of scope for a free and fair poll. The ruling DMK won that election.
With the BJP claiming that it has improved its vote-share in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, especially in the western region, it seems to be inclined to contest the bypoll. The party’s state president K Annamalai, on Tuesday, said the party would decide after consulting allies PMK and TMC. He urged the ECI to depute officers from other states to ensure a free and fair by-election.