The road to Erode (East)

The byelection, scheduled for February 27, is anything but dull. The period following the announcement of the byelection has seen significant developments. Senior leaders and AIADMK functionaries are feeling elated over the party getting the two leaves symbol. The byelection is the first test for the DMK after it entered office in May 2021. Issues such as the increase in electricity charges and the poor condition of roads bother the electors

Byelections in Tamil Nadu do not throw up surprises, going by the record in the last 65-odd years. Virtually, in three out of four byelections, the party in power or its ally won. Hence, a by-election is hardly a reason for excitement. However, the February 27 byelection to Erode (East) is anything but dull.

In fact, even the Election Commission’s announcement of the byelection in the middle of January caught many parties off guard — the seat fell vacant only in the first week of the month after the sudden death of the Congress MLA and former State Congress president E.V.K.S. Elangovan’s son, E. Thirumahan Everaa. The party sprang a surprise by putting up Mr. Elangovan despite his stated disinclination to enter the fray and appeal to the leadership to nominate his other son E. Sanjay Sampath. There was at least one more strong aspirant in Makkal G. Rajan, the Erode district president of the party.

The byelection is the first test for the DMK after it entered office in May 2021. Almost all the Ministers and senior functionaries have been drafted for election work. Workers doing the election work are largely from the DMK, while the Congress and a few other alliance partners support them in their own way.

While Mr. Sampath accompanies the Ministers during their door-to-door campaign, Mr. Elangovan, a septuagenarian, covers the constituency in the evenings. Housing and Urban Development Minister S. Muthusamy, who represents Erode (West), is shepherding his party colleagues and others in the DMK-led front.

Banking on the goodwill earned by Thirumahan Everaa, the Congress leader emphasises that people’s confidence in Chief Minister M.K. Stalin is another factor that counts in his favour. Lauding the DMK Ministers and functionaries for the way in which they are working for him, Mr. Elangovan points out that it is as if the candidate belonged to their party. “I am confident of registering a historic win...,” he adds.

It is not going to be a smooth sailing for him: issues such as the increase in electricity charges and the poor condition of roads bother the electors. Mr. Rajan, the key local Congress functionary, acknowledges the dissatisfaction of people. However, “they are convinced when we tell them the facts and assure them that the roads will be re-laid after the byelection.” He points out that there is no difference of opinion between the DMK and the Congress. What should add to the comfort of Mr. Elangovan is the support from the Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), led by actor Kamal Haasan, as the party polled 10,005 votes in 2021, about 6.6% of the vote share.

The story in the Opposition front, led by the AIADMK, has been no less exciting. Immediately after the byelection was announced, the principal Opposition party lost no time in convincing one of its allies, Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar), to concede the seat to it, as the AIADMK, led by interim general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami, sees an opportunity in the byelection to boost its image. (M. Yuvaraja of the TMC (M) was fielded on the AIADMK’s symbol in the 2021 Assembly election). There has been a popular perception that the BJP, under the leadership of K. Annamalai, is growing at the cost of the AIADMK, a point that the party’s senior functionary and former Finance Minister, C. Ponnaiyan, echoed at a workshop in May last year.