Polling peaceful in Erode East constituency in TN, over 27% polling by 11 am

Erode (TN): Polling for the Erode East byelection in Tamil Nadu was progressing peacefully and around 27 per cent of the voters cast their votes by 11 AM, officials said on Monday.

A few alleged technical glitches were reported, prompting authorities to suspend voting in two booths.

As of 11 AM, over 27.89 per cent voting was recorded, officials said. There were no untoward incidents so far.

The AIADMK complained to the Returning Officer that some DMK men were involved in distribution of cash at Asokapuram but when authorities rushed to the spot they did not find anyone, they said.

At Veerapanchathiram, complaints were received that votes were not recorded for the intended candidate after pressing a particular button on the electronic voting machine (EVM). At Brough Road, EVM did not function properly. In both places, officials suspended voting for sometime, before resuming after addressing the glitches.

Voting began at 7 AM on Monday and District Collector H Krishnanunni was among the early voters.

Candidates of the ruling DMK-backed EVKS Elangovan of the Congress and AIADMK's K S Thennarasu among others cast their vote.

The election was necessitated due to the death of Elangovan's son and Congress legislator E Thirumahan Everaa in January this year.

While 77 candidates are in fray, the battle is likely confined between the Congress and AIADMK. Naam Tamizhar Katchi's Meneka Navaneethan is among the other candidates.

The outcome of the election, the first since the DMK came to power in 2021, will have no major bearing on the existing strength of the respective parties in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, but is being seen as an indicator of the ruling party's popularity, especially with the Lok Sabha elections slated next year.

Eighteen Congress MLAs were elected to the House in 2021 but the DMK ally's strength has come down by 1 due to the vacancy created by Thirumahan Everaa's death.

The K Palaniswami-led AIADMK, the main Opposition party in the Assembly has a strength of 66 MLAs and a win here could give a moral boost to the party ahead of the hustings in 2024, even as the Supreme Court had last week allowed him to continue as the party' interim chief.

He is locked in a leadership tussle with rival leader O Panneerselvam.

Therefore, if the party upsets the ruling coalition, it would also be seen as a shot in the arm to Palaniswami.

The constituency has a little over 2.27 lakh voters and 238 polling stations.