Erode East bypolls today, 2.3 lakh to vote

COIMBATORE: All arrangements are in place for the Erode East assembly bypolls on Wednesday. A total of 46 candidates are in the fray for the bypolls, which is set to witness a two-cornered fight between DMK’s VC Chandhirakumar and NTK’s MK Seethalakshmi.

The bypolls, necessitated by the demise of Congress MLA EVKS Elangovan, had a low-key campaign after opposition parties, including the AIADMK and the BJP, boycotted the polls citing election irregularities by the ruling party.

Voting will commence at 7 am and end at 6 pm in the 237 polling booths across 53 polling centres. Additional security arrangements are in place at nine booths identified as sensitive.

The district election officer and collector Raja Gopal Sunkara said a holiday has been declared for educational institutions and government and private entities on the election day. He also warned of strict action against violators.

There are 2,27,546 registered voters -- 1,10,128 male, 1,17,381 female and 37 persons from the third gender. Arrangements, including drinking water, toilets, ramps and power backup, have been made in the polling stations.

EVMs and other polling material from the corporation’s central office have been dispatched to polling stations amidst tight police security. A total of 850 EVMs, 284 control units and 308 VVPATs will be used.

After the elections, the EVMs will be sealed and kept in strong rooms at the Government College of Engineering in Chithode, where counting will take place on February 8.

More than 1,500 police and three companies of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will be deployed.