All about Erode (East) bypoll 2023

For the first time since the DMK came to power following 2021 Assembly election in Tamil Nadu, the State witnesses a by-election in the Erode (East) Assembly constituency on February 27, 2023.

The Erode (East) Assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu, is witnessing a bypoll following the sudden demise of the Congress MLA E. Thirumahan Everaa who was the great grandson of Dravidar Kazhagam founder ‘Periyar’ E.V. Ramasamy and the son of former Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president E.V.K.S. Elangovan. The 46-year-old legislator died of cardiac arrest on January 4, 2023.

The announcement of the by-election by the Election Commission of India came within two weeks, on January 18.

On January 19, a statement issued on behalf of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) said Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, after a meeting with leaders of parties in the alliance, decided to allot the Erode (East) Assembly seat to the Congress. Initially, Mr. Everaa’s brother, E. Sanjay Sampath was speculated to be a potential candidate for the bypoll, after Mr. Elangovan indicated his unwillingness to contest.

However, the Congress, in a surprising move, on January 22, fielded Mr. Elangovan as its candidate.

In a significant development, actor/politician Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) which has up until now, neither extended support nor joined any alliance with any major party, for the first time extended support to the Congress.

There were several developments in the camp of the main Opposition party, the AIADMK. In the 2021 Assembly election, the Erode (East) seat had been allotted by the AIADMK to its alliance partner, the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC). However, after a meeting with senior AIADMK leaders, TMC president G.K. Vasan announced that his party had accepted the AIADMK’s request to contest in the bypoll. The AIADMK then fielded two-time MLA K.S. Thennarasu as its candidate.

The AIADMK’s deposed coordinator O. Panneerselvam, meanwhile, fielded his camp’s candidate, Senthil Murugan, but with a caveat: in the event of the BJP putting up its nominee, his candidate would opt out of the fray. The BJP, an ally of the AIADMK intervened, and following meetings of the BJP Tamil Nadu leadership with both AIADMK interim general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Mr. Panneerselvam and its calls for “a united AIADMK”, Mr. Panneerselvam eventually withdrew his candidate from the fray.