Erode (East) bypoll: DMK, NTK candidates file nominations

The ruling DMK candidate V.C. Chandhirakumar and Naam Tamilar Katchi’s (NTK) nominee M.K. Seethalakshmi filed their nominations on Friday (January 17, 2025) for the Erode (East) Assembly bypoll, scheduled to be held on February 5.

The ruling DMK candidate V.C. Chandhirakumar and Naam Tamilar Katchi’s (NTK) nominee M.K. Seethalakshmi filed their nominations on Friday (January 17, 2025) for the Erode (East) Assembly bypoll, scheduled to be held on February 5.

The nominees submitted their papers to the Returning Officer (RO) and Corporation Commissioner N. Manish at the Corporation Central Office. Friday is the last day of filing nominations.

With major political parties, including the AIADMK and BJP, boycotting the bypoll necessitated by the passing of Congress legislator E.V.K.S. Elangovan, the contest will primarily be between Mr. Chandhirakumar and Ms. Seethalakshmi. This is the second bypoll in the constituency since May 2021, when the current Assembly was constituted. In 2023, the constituency saw a bypoll after the death of E. Thirumahan Everaa, the son of Elangovan.

Before filing his nomination, Mr. Chandhirakumar led a procession with bands and party functionaries from the election office near GH Roundabout. The DMK’s Rajya Sabha MP Anthiyur P. Selvaraj, executive committee member Kumarasamy, district deputy secretary Senthil Kumar, and Elangovan’s son E. Sanjay Sampath participated in the procession.

Mr. Chandhirakumar said he would ensure that the initiatives of the two late legislators would continue to be implemented in the constituency. He stressed the welfare schemes implemented under the ‘Dravidian model’ of governance had reached the people of the segment.

“There is no need to give specific assurances to the voters in the constituency, as the Minister for Housing and Urban Development S. Muthusamy has already been planning and executing schemes here,” he said.

When asked about NTK candidate Ms. Seethalakshmi’s complaints about issues in the constituency, he remarked: “Our country is advancing with the development of modern science, but their leader (Seeman) continues to ask people to use bullock carts. Contesting for such a party is an irony of our times,” he said.