Erode (East) bypoll: DMK candidate Chandhirakumar’s victory margin the third largest since 2009

DMK's V.C. Chandhirakumar wins Erode (East) by-election with third largest victory margin since 2009.

The victory margin of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)’s V.C.  Chandhirakumar in the Erode (East) Assembly by-election marked the third largest in any such contest since 2009.

Mr. Chandhirakumar bagged the seat, defeating his nearest rival M.K. Seethalakshmi of Naam Tamilar Katchi by a margin of 91,558 votes. 

The first two slots with regard to the victory margin belonged to the DMK’s traditional adversary, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), which, however, chose to boycott the Erode (East) by-poll.

If one is to go by the data of by-polls election results since January 2009 (when the Tirumangalam by-election was held), the performance of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa with a margin of 1,50,722 votes in the June 2015 by-poll to Dr. R.K. Nagar remained at the top . She was followed by her colleague S. Valarmathi who won in the Srirangam by-election in February 2015. 

In R.K. Nagar, the contest was essentially one-sided as happened this time in Erode (East), on account of the DMK’s decision to stay away then.  But, in Srirangam, the DMK’s N. Anand was the runner-up. The constituency, famous for the Ranganathaswamy temple whose origin was traced to the 1st century CE, witnessed the by-election following Jayalalithaa’s conviction in the disproportionate assets case and the consequent disqualification to continue as a legislator. In 2011, the former Chief Minister was elected from there. 

In terms of vote share in percentage, Mr. Chandhirakumar, with 74.7%, came next to the AIADMK’s former general secretary, who had recorded 88.43%. The third slot went to Karthik Thondaiman of the AIADMK, who had received 71.16% of votes polled in the June 2012 Pudukottai by-election. 

In the last 16 years, there were 12 by-elections with the victory margin exceeding 50,000 votes.  The ruling DMK and the AIADMK were victorious on five occasions each with the former’s ally Congress on the remaining two occasions. In the dozen instances, the DMK had boycotted two by-elections (R K Nagar and Pudukottai) and AIADMK thrice (Thondamuthur, Vikravandi and Erode-East in 2025).