Erode East bypolls: Celebration at Congress camp as party leads

CHENNAI: With early trends in Erode East bye-election showing a tilt towards the Congress, its workers and supporters burst into celebrations at Tamil Nadu's Chennai.

In the latest trend, Indian National Congress candidate EVKS Elangovan is leading Erode East bye-election by 15,631 votes against All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam opponent K.S Thennarasu.

"Everybody expected this and our party people were very confident to win. We are going to win this seat with a huge margin," Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge said while commenting on party's lead in Erode East by-poll in Tamil Nadu.

Talking to ANI Karti Chidambaram said on Erode bypolls, "I have already said that previously DMK-led alliance the Congress candidate Elangovan will win with the margin nothing less than 50 thousand votes and trends are indicating that."

After CM MK Stalin's proclamation yesterday for opposition unity with Congress at its centrality, we will have a formidable front to take on BJP in the coming parliamentary elections," Karti said.

Talking about the alliance and whether they will move forward with the alliance or not he said, "Of course, this will be a good boost for us and the alliance in Tamil Nadu".

Meanwhile, the counting of votes for bye-elections to one assembly constituency each in Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and two assembly seats in Maharashtra began on Thursday.

The voting in all these assembly constituencies was held on February 27 (Monday). In Tamil Nadu's Erode East Assembly bypolls, a total of 77 candidates across political affiliations are vying for the prized Assembly constituency.

Tamil Nadu's Erode recorded 74 per cent voting on February 27 (Monday). However, the main competition is being essentially seen between Congress candidate EVKS Elangovan and AIADMK's Thennarasu. Elangovan contested the bypoll with the support of the DMK, which is also Congress' bigger partner in the ruling alliance.

After the recent Supreme Court ruling, which allowed him to remain at the helm of the AIADMK, former Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami has a chance to emerge as a tall leader and reaffirm his hold on the party if the outcome of the Erode by-poll goes his way.

However, the AIADMK faces a stiff contest from the ruling DMK in the battle for the prized seat, with the Naam Tamizlar Katchi (NTK), the Desiya Morpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) and several other players also in the fray. The bypoll was necessitated after the sudden demise of Congress MLA Thirumahan Eveera.

Besides counting for the bypolls, counting is also on for assembly elections in three northeastern states Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya.