ERODE: The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) made a strong debut by winning five of the eight Assembly constituencies in Erode district. The party captured three seats from the DMK alliance and two from the AIADMK alliance. The AIADMK retained the remaining three seats, while the DMK failed to open its account in the district.
Before the election, the DMK alliance held Erode East, Erode West, and Anthiyur, while the AIADMK alliance controlled the other five - Perundurai, Gobichettipalayam, Bhavani, and Bhavanisagar. Only Modakkurichi was with its ally BJP.
Notably, Gobichettipalayam, an AIADMK stronghold since 2001, has been retained by former minister KA Sengottaiyan who shifted from the AIADMK to the TVK. He won against DMK's N Nallasivam, marking TVK's breakthrough into an AIADMK bastion.
Erode East has seen frequent polls in recent years. In the 2021 Assembly election, Congress's Thirumagan Evera won the seat for the DMK alliance.
After his death, his father EVKS Elangovan retained it in the 2023 by-election. Following Elangovan's demise, the DMK contested directly in the second by-election and won, marking the third time the seat changed hands within five years.
In this election, DMK allotted the seat to Congress again, which fielded Gopinath Palaniyappan. He lost to TVK candidate M Vijay Balaji, who polled 69,747 votes and won by a margin of 23,966 votes.
In Erode West, DMK Minister S Muthusamy sought re-election for a second term. He was challenged by TMC's M Yuvaraja, who contested on the BJP's lotus symbol, and TVK's Anand Moghan KK. The result did not favour Muthusamy, who lost to Anand Moghan.
Modakkurichi, previously held by the BJP, saw the party field S Kirthika, daughter-in-law of sitting MLA C Saraswathi, with hopes of retaining the seat. However, TVK's D Shanmugam defeated Kirthika by a margin of 2,430 votes.
In Bhavanisagar (Reserved), TVK candidate VP Tamilselvi secured 72,391 votes and defeated AIADMK's sitting MLA A Bannari, who polled 67,822 votes, by a margin of 4,569 votes.
AIADMK retained Perundurai, Bhavani and Anthiyur. In Perundurai, AIADMK's S Jayakumar defeated DMK's ND Venkatachalam. In Bhavani, AIADMK's KC Karuppanan defeated TVK's Balakrishnan. In Anthiyur, AIADMK's P Haribaskar defeated DMK's M Sivabalan.
Overall, TVK's entry has reshaped Erode's political map, breaking long-held AIADMK dominance in key seats and emerging as a major force alongside the two established Dravidian parties.
