Tamil Nadu: Erode bye-election campaign gains momentum; top leaders to join

The results of the Erode (east) bye-election scheduled for February 27 will have no bearing on the DMK government, but the bypoll has become a prestige battle between the ruling alliance which has fielded a Congress candidate and AIADMK, the principal opposition party, as it comes just over a year before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The bye-election will also witness a high-voltage campaign in the coming weeks with Chief Minister M K Stalin, Leader of Opposition and AIADMK interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) chief Kamal Haasan and NTK chief Seeman set to converge in Erode to canvass votes for their candidates.

Stalin will be in Erode on February 24 and 25, the last two days of the campaign before the polling on February 27, Kamal Haasan will campaign for Congress candidate E V K S Elangovan on February 19, while Palaniswami will camp in Erode for five days to seek votes for AIADMK nominee, K S Thennarasu.

After the last date for withdrawal of nominations ended on February 10, as many as 77 candidates are in the fray and over 2.15 lakh people are eligible to vote. The constituency, though located in the western region dominated by entrepreneurial Gounders, has a sizable chunk of Mudaliars and Muslims and both parties have begun a major outreach to woo them.

While Elangovan, the death of whose son Thirumahan E Ve Ra necessitated the by-poll, is the Congress candidate, the Opposition alliance led by AIADMK has fielded a joint nominee in Thennarasu after the BJP brokered peace with expelled leader O Panneerselvam. DMDK and NTK candidates are also in the fray, while MNM led by Kamal Haasan has extended support to Elangovan.

Palaniswami is making the bye-election into a referendum on the performance of the 20-month-old DMK government. Palaniswami, who is under pressure to prove his standing in the faction ridden AIADMK, feels a victory in Erode (east) or significantly reducing the Congress’ candidate’s majority will set the tone for next year’s general elections.

The DMK too believes a victory with a huge margin in the by-election will cement the party’s position ahead of next year’s general elections. The party has dispatched at least half-a-dozen ministers to Erode to work for the Congress candidate.

In the 2021 elections, Elangovan’s son, and Congress nominee, Thirumahan, had won the seat dominated by Mudaliars and Muslims by over 7,000 votes.