Erode By-Poll Result ‘Victory for Dravidian Model’: Stalin

DMK-headed Secular Progressive Alliance’s Congress candidate EVKS Elangovan won the spirited Erode (East) by-poll with 1,10,156 votes (64.58% of the votes) on Thursday. He won by a large margin of 66,406 votes defeating AIADMK’s KS Thennarasu, who polled 43,923 votes (25.75%).

NTK candidate Menaka Navaneethan was third with 10,827 votes (6.35%). A total of 1,70,563 votes were polled on February 27, which is 74.79% of the eligible voters in the constituency.

In the 2021 Assembly election, Elangovan’s son Thirumahan Everaa won by a margin of 8,904 votes (44%). The by-poll was held following Everaa’s death in January 2022. Elangovan said he wouldn’t celebrate but complete the work his late son had started.

Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin said that this was a “victory for DMK’s Dravidian model of governance while Thennarasu alleged that “democracy has lost, money has won” hinting at cash for votes.

This was the first by-poll in the state since the 2021 Assembly election and the AIADMK’s first electoral contest after it elected EK Palaniswami as its interim general secretary and abolished the dual leadership by expelling O Panneerselvam.

During the campaign, Palaniswami urged the electorate to “teach a lesson” to the ruling party. Erode is a part of the Kongu, or western belt, of Tamil Nadu, which has been traditionally an AIADMK stronghold. The AIADMK had a few advantages like Panneerselvam camp withdrawing its candidate and the party contest under the popular two-leaves symbol.

Stalin had urged voters to weigh out the DMK rule and vote accordingly. Elangovan had the benefit of contesting with the support of the ruling party, which traditionally wins by-polls in Tamil Nadu. Kamal Hassan’s MNM had also supported the Congress, ensuring his victory with 20% more votes.

The AIADMK alleged that the election was not held fairly. “If the election was held in a free and fair manner, the AIADMK would have won,” Palaniswami said after the by-poll results.

“The DMK never feared any election as they did this one. They spent more than Rs 350 crore and got a fake victory. The ruling party abused power and curtailed the entire government machinery. Even the Election Commission was also not active,” party leader Jayakumar alleged during a press conference.

“Nearly 45,000 people voted for us despite that. This is actually a disappointment for Stalin and a victorious loss for us,” he added.

TMC leader GK Vasan also alleged that the by-election result was a “gross violation” of the poll code by the DMK.