Chennai: With the Tamil Nadu Assembly secretariat notifying vacancy in Erode Assembly constituency, political parties have commenced preparations for the ensuing bypolls.
The Assembly secretariat issued the vacancy notification on January 11 and by-elections have to be mandatorily held for the seat within six months of notification.
Demise of the sitting Congress MLA Thirumahan Everaa following a massive heart attack necessitated the by-election. It may be noted that the deceased Congress leader was the son of former Union minister and senior Congress leader E.V.K.S. Elangovan and closely related to the Dravidian ideologue, late E.V. Ramasamy Periyar or Thanthai Periyar who is held in high esteem by the Dravidian political parties of Tamil Nadu.
The AIADMK which is battered and bruised following successive defeats since the 2019 general elections, has a chance to prove its mettle by wresting the Erode Assembly seat from the Congress.
In the 2021 Assembly polls, it was A. Yuvaraj of the Tamil Manila Congress who contested the polls against Thirumagan Evera in the two-symbol ticket of AIADMK but lost. However, the AIADMK will work hard to ensure victory for the NDA candidate, and the possibility of the party itself contesting the poll is higher.
The Erode assembly by-election will be a major opportunity for the AIADMK interim general secretary, Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) to prove his mettle as he has been in negative news following the removal of former Chief Minister, O. Panneerselvam(OPS) from the party.
Dr Ayub Khan, Director of Socio-Economic Development Foundation, a think tank based out of Madurai while speaking to IANS said, “Erode by-election is significant for AIADMK and more particularly for EPS as he has to prove his worth within the party as well as with OPS, Sasikala and TTV Dhinakaran who were all expelled from the party. With the estranged leaders trying to make a comeback and to capture the AIADMK, it is for EPS to prove that the party and the front would wrest the Erode seat from Congress.”
He said that the powerful leaders of the AIADMK, the late M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) and J. Jayalalithaa had taken challenges and turned the tide in their favour thus making them immortal. The social scientist also said that if EPS can wrest the seat from the DMK-led front, then he can emerge as a powerful leader in Tamil Nadu politics.
–IANS