AIADMK-Congress fight in Erode (east) bypolls

Notwithstanding the lack of clarity on whether it will get the Two Leaves symbol, the AIADMK, led by former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Friday decided to field its candidate against the Congress nominee in the by-election to Erode (east) Assembly constituency scheduled on February 27.

The development announced by G K Vasan of Tamil Maanila Congress, whose party was allotted the seat in 2021 Assembly polls, is seen as a bold move by Palaniswami, whose appointment as interim general secretary by the General Council is challenged by O Panneerselvam, to demonstrate his standing within the AIADMK and prove his mettle.

Hours after Vasan said in a statement that his party had accepted the proposal to hand over the seat to AIADMK, Palaniswami held intense consultations with his cadres on the candidate selection and strategy to be followed in the by-election.

The AIADMK might also face a challenge from its rebel, T T V Dhinakaran, who didn’t rule out the possibility of him joining the electoral fray in Erode (east) where bypolls were necessitated due to the death of the Congress MLA, Thirumahan Evera. Congress is likely to field a member of the Evera family that includes former TNCC chief E V K S Elangovan, the deceased MLA’s father.

The biggest challenge before the AIADMK was to get the Two Leaves symbol for its candidate as records with the Election Commission of India (ECI) still mention O Panneerselvam as coordinator and Palaniswami as joint coordinator, though the GC appointed the latter as the party’s interim head and expelled the former from the party.

Political observers say unless the two sign the B-form, the AIADMK nominee will not be allotted the ‘Two Leaves’ symbol and the likelihood of Palaniswami allowing Panneerselvam to affix his signature was impossible as it would water down his fight for the party’s control. They also said if OPS also claims the symbol, the matter will reach the ECI, eventually leading to its freezing.

However, AIADMK organising secretary D Jayakumar said the party would contest only on the Two Leaves symbol. “Only AIADMK can give a tough fight to the Congress,” he said.

Sources told DH that the AIADMK decided to field its candidate as it feels “good performance” if not a victory in the bypoll in western region, where EPS is popular, will help further consolidate his position within the party and justify the GC’s decision to appoint him as the interim general secretary.

AIADMK’s ally, BJP, is still mulling over options with a section pushing the saffron party to contest on its own. Sources said a decision on whether to field its own candidate or extend support to the AIADMK candidate would be taken in the next couple of days. A delegation from AIADMK is also likely to meet BJP leaders on Saturday.

The Congress won the seat by a margin of over 7,000 votes in the 2021 elections. The observers said the arithmetic favours the ruling alliance as over 20% of the 2.26 lakh voters belong to the minority community, while there is a sizeable chunk of Gounders, Naidus, and Mudaliars in the constituency.