TN Erode East bypoll turnout nearly 75 percent, peaceful

Erode: Nearly 75 percent of the 2.27 lakh voters cast their votes in the Erode East by-election held in Tamil Nadu on Monday and the polling exercise was peaceful, authorities said here.

Voting began at 7 AM and ended at 6 PM and District Collector H Krishnanunni was among the early voters. Chief Electoral Officer, Satyabrata Sahoo told reporters in Chennai that the polling percentage till 6 PM stood at 74.69 percent.
While the bypoll result would have no immediate impact on the State’s present political landscape, it could set the tone for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

DMK president and Chief Minister M K Stalin had appealed to the people to consider the bypoll as an opportunity to evaluate the good performance of his government which delivered on its promises and vote for his party’s ally the Congress.

AIADMK top leader K Palaniswami squarely blamed the ruling party over a host of issues, including rise in electricity tariff and not getting NEET exemption for Tamil Nadu as assured and appealed to the people to teach the ruling party a fitting lesson by voting for his party’s ‘Two leaves’ symbol.

Returning Officer K Sivakumar said “peaceful polling was conducted and completed without any incident”. Some voters in polling stations who were in the queue by 6 PM were provided tokens and allowed to vote.

After polling ended, police, along with para-military personnel took out a march to instill confidence among people and prevented congregation of public and party workers to rule out scope for untoward incidents.

A few alleged technical glitches were reported, prompting authorities to suspend voting in two booths.

The AIADMK complained to the Returning Officer that some DMK men were involved in distribution of cash at Asokapuram, but when authorities rushed to the spot they did not find anyone, they said.

At Veerapanchathiram, complaints were received that votes were not recorded for the intended candidate after pressing a particular button on the electronic voting machine (EVM). At Brough Road, EVM did not function properly. In both places, officials suspended voting for sometime, before resuming after addressing the glitches.

Candidates of the ruling DMK-backed EVKS Elangovan of the Congress and AIADMK’s K S Thennarasu among others cast their vote.

The election was necessitated due to the death of Elangovan’s son and Congress legislator E Thirumahan Everaa in January this year.

While 77 candidates are in fray, the battle is likely confined between the Congress and AIADMK. Naam Tamizhar Katchi’s Meneka Navaneethan is among the other candidates.

The outcome of the election, the first since the DMK came to power in 2021, will have no major bearing on the existing strength of the respective parties in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, but is being seen as an indicator of the ruling party’s popularity, especially with the LS elections slated next year.

Eighteen Congress MLAs were elected to the House in 2021 but the DMK ally’s strength came down by 1 due to the vacancy following Thirumahan Everaa’s death.

The Palaniswami-led AIADMK, the main Opposition party in the Assembly has a strength of 66 MLAs and a win here would be a morale booster to the party ahead of the hustings in 2024. The Supreme Court had last week allowed him to continue as the party’ interim chief, seen as a shot in arm for Palaniswami.

The AIADMK’s performance could inspire Palaniswami and his leadership team, which is facing a legal battle led by O Panneerselvam against his expulsion.

The constituency has 2,27,547 voters and women (1,16,497) are more than men (1,11,025) and 25 fall under the third gender category. The total number of polling stations is 238. Votes will be counted on March 2.