Tamil Nadu parties get ready to fight Erode bypoll

The February 27 bypoll to Erode (east) Assembly constituency will be the first major popularity test for the 20-month-old M K Stalin government and an acid test for the Opposition alliance whose leader AIADMK, despite fraught with internal strife, is gearing up for a spirited fight against the ruling DMK coalition.

The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of Thirumahan Evera of Congress on January 4. Tamil Nadu Congress Committee chief K S Alagiri announced that the party will contest the bypoll in Erode (east) as the seat was allotted to it by the DMK in the 2021 Assembly elections.

The 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.

DMK will also walk the extra mile in ensuring the victory of the Congress nominee to send a message that the party has won the confidence of the people in western Tamil Nadu, where the majority of the seats were won by the AIADMK alliance in 2021, through its performance in the past 20 months. The DMK swept the local body polls in 2022 in the western region.

However, there is no clarity, albeit for now, on whether the party will take on the Congress nominee from the Opposition alliance as the seat was allotted to Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) of G K Vasan in the 2021 polls, though it contested on the AIADMK’s Two Leaves symbol. The BJP is also mulling whether to field its own candidate or support the nominee of the AIADMK alliance.

After a meeting with AIADMK leaders, Vasan said the two parties will take a call on the candidate in the next few days. “The victory of the alliance is more important than which party the candidate belongs to. We will hold more consultations and come to a decision. We want the AIADMK alliance to win the seat as we believe anti-DMK votes are increasing each passing day,” Vasan told DH.

Sources said Vasan indicated to the AIADMK leaders that he was even ready to give the seat to the senior partner to achieve the goal of “defeating the DMK” in the bypoll. The AIADMK won 29 of the 50 seats at stake in the western region in 2021 and believes that it can put up an impressive show in the by-election.

The sources also hoped that the BJP might not field its own candidate in the bypoll and will come around in a few days’ time once the AIADMK approaches the party for its support.

But the biggest stumbling block for the Opposition alliance is the election symbol. The AIADMK is unlikely to get the Two Leaves symbol unless O Panneerselvam and Edappadi K Palaniswami affix their signature on the B-form with the Election Commission of India records still showing them as coordinator and joint coordinator of the party.