Boycott Takes Toll on Poll Campaign

The streets of Erode East were unusually quiet in the run-up to the second bypoll since 2021. With the AIADMK, BJP, PMK and DMDK sitting it out, the "dead rubber" election, to be held on February 5, has left the ruling DMK facing off against the NTK.

- P SRINIVASAN @Erode

"In the previous by-election, parties campaigned from 6 am and pamphlets piled up at our doorstep. Now, only a group of cadres campaign in the evenings, no major leaders have visited and no gifts have been to voters," said R Manikandan, a resident of Periyar Nagar.

The constituency was formed after delimitation in 2008. The DMK lost here in 2011 to the DMDK and in 2016 to the AIADMK. In the 2021 Assembly poll, the party gave the seat to the Congress, which fielded Thirumagan Everaa. The MLA, however, died in January 2023. His father, EVKS Elangovan, won the by-election in February 2023.

Another bypoll was necessitated by Elangovan's death last December and, this time, the DMK decided to field its own candidate, VC Chandrakumar. Chandrakumar was elected from here as a DMDK MLA in 2011 but lost in the next Assembly poll when fielded by DMK.