Tamil Nadu Erode East Bypoll: O Panneerselvam Faction Of AIADMK Announces Senthil Murugan As Candidate

The O Panneerselvam (OPS) faction of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has announced Senthil Murugan as its candidate for the bypoll.

This comes after the announcement of former Erode East MLA, KS Thennarasu as the candidate of the Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) faction, today morning. (1 February).

Panneerselvam, however, reiterated that Murugan would withdraw his candidature if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) decided to contest the elections alone.

According to political commentators, the selection of Murugan, who belongs to the Mudaliar community, is to attract the non-Gounder votes.

While the Gounders are the strongest in numerical terms, the Mudaliars have the second-largest population in the constituency.

Thennarasu, who is the candidate of the EPS faction, belongs to the Gounder community.

Both factions now await the orders of the Supreme Court regarding the validity of the general council meeting held in July 2022 during which OPS was expelled and the allotment of the 'two-leaves' symbol.

Though the BJP had earlier indicated that it would support the EPS faction, it is yet to announce its final decision.

Also Read: Tamil Nadu Erode East Bypoll: KS Thennarasu Announced As Candidate By EPS Faction Of AIADMK