Erode East bypoll nomination, election dates out: Check deets

CHENNAI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday announced that the by-poll for Erode (East) assembly constituency would be held on February 27. The by-poll for the constituency was necessitated following the demise of congress MLA E Thirumahan Everaa, who died due to cardiac arrest on January 4, and it would be the first by-poll for the 16th Assembly of the State.

The filing of nominations, according to ECI notification, would commence from January 31 and continue till February 7. Scrutiny of the nominations would take place on February 8, while the last date for withdrawal of nomination is on February 10. The constituency goes for polling on February 27 and the votes would be counted on March 2.

With the announcement of the poll date, the election code of conduct came into effect immediately in the constituency. The authorities in the district covered political leaders' statues, white washed the political wall paintings and removed the posters and banners as per the ECI's guidelines.

The first by-poll for the 16th Assembly would turn into an interesting one in the present political climate. In the AIADMK-led alliance, the seat was allocated to G K Vasan's TMC (M). The party fielded M Yuvaraja in the 'Two-Leaves' symbol against Everaa of the DMK's ally Congress. Everaa won the polls comfortably with a margin of 8,904 votes.

The by-poll would put the AIADMK and its ally in a tough spot due to the political quagmire over the leadership row. Though the party leadership is willing to honour its electoral pact with TMC and allocate the seat to the latter, the uncertainty over the 'Two-Leaves' looming large, said party insiders. On the other hand, the DMK and its alliance Congress was clear in their approach. The party insiders in DMK said their leader MK Stalin would honour the electoral pact and give the seat to Congress. It would be a cake walk for their alliance.