Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) state president GK Vasan said that the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) would contest the Erode East bypoll.

In the 2021 elections, Yuvaraj M of the TMC had contested on the two-leaves symbol of the AIADMK and lost to Thirumahan Evera, the Congress candidate.

The two leaves symbol may not be available during this election as the AIADMK is split into the O Panneerselvam (OPS) and Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) factions and the Supreme Court is yet to give its verdict in the case filed by OPS challenging his expulsion from the party.

The announcement comes after discussions between the EPS faction and Vasan over the past few days. A delegation comprising the AIADMK’s organisation secretary, D Jayakumar, and former Ministers B Valarmathi, Gokula Indira and P Benjamin had met Mr Vasan. 

The AIADMK is expected to field K V Ramalingam, a two-time legislator and veteran party leader from Erode district. Ramalingam, who won from Erode West in both 2011 and 2016 elections, however suffered a defeat in the 2021 state polls to DMK strongman S Muthuswamy (himself a veteran AIADMK leader who served as a senior minister in J Jayalalitha's first cabinet but later switched allegiance to the DMK).

BJP Undecided

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president K Annamalai said that he has spoken to both Palaniswami and Vasan and conveyed the views of the allies as well as the Tamil Nadu BJP to the national leadership. Regarding the formation of the 14-member committee, he said that it is a matter of procedure that is followed by the party in every election.

He added that the final decision regarding whether to contest as part of the AIADMK alliance or to go it alone, would be taken by the national leadership.

According to political commentators, it will be interesting to see if BJP may still be keen to test waters by going alone after the TMC has relinquished the seat to AIADMK.

Congress Expected To Field EVKS Elangovan or Sanjay Sampath

The Congress is expected to field Evera's father, EVKS Elangovan or brother Sanjay Sampath from the seat. His father EVKS Elangovan is a senior Congress leader and former Union minister.

Also Read: Tamil Nadu: Erode East Bypoll To Be Held On 27 February; All Eyes On AIADMK-BJP Alliance