CHENNAI: The ruling DMK will contest the upcoming bypoll for Erode (East) Assembly constituency as part of the alliance it leads. The poll, scheduled for February 5, was necessitated by the death of Congress leader EVKS Elangovan last month.
Interestingly, the announcement came from the Congress, which not only won the seat in 2021 as part of the DMK-led alliance but also contested the previous bypoll in 2023, which happened because of the untimely death of its MLA and Elangovan’s son Thirumahan Everaa.
In a statement, TNCC president K Selvaperunthagai said the decision for the DMK to contest was taken after it was sought by Chief Minister and leader of INDIA bloc in Tamil Nadu MK Stalin, keeping in mind the short period of time left for the election to the Assembly in 2026. Selvaperunthagai said the decision was taken unanimously after serious discussions between TNCC and AICC leadership.
Selvaperunthagai appealed to everyone to work together to ensure the victory of INDIA bloc’s candidate from the DMK with a wide margin so as to protect the Constitution and safeguard democracy.
TNIE was the first to report that there were strong indications that the ruling party was keen to contest this time instead of giving it to its ally Congress. DMK functionaries from the region had appealed to the leadership on the need for the ruling party to register a thumping victory ahead of the 2026 election. Local functionaries of the DMK already began their poll work in full swing since last week, as reported by TNIE on Wednesday.
Another factor that appears to have contributed to the decision is the lack of a clear favourite candidate from the Congress. While Elangovan’s other son Sanjay Sampath’s name was floated, party sources said that he himself showed hesitancy to contest and lacked unanimous backing of the party.
DMK sources said that VC Chandrakumar, a party spokesperson, seemed to be a frontrunner to be announced as its candidate. Once a fan of late actor Vijayakant, Chandrakumar first got elected as an MLA from Erode (East) in 2011 as a DMDK candidate. He was also the party’s whip in the Assembly from 2011 to 2016.
After quitting DMDK, he launched Makkal DMDK and unsuccessfully contested from the same constituency as part of an alliance with the DMK in 2016. He later joined the DMK.
