Tamil Manila Congress accepts AIADMK’s wish to contest Erode bypoll: GK Vasan

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], January 20 (ANI): Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) on Friday said that to “ensure the victory of the alliance,” it has accepted the AIADMK’s wish to contest the February 27 Erode (East) assembly bypoll.

In the 2021 assembly polls, the AIADMK allotted the seat to the Tamil Maanila Congress which had come second on the seat. “AIADMK wishes to contest in Erode East Constituency. We are accepting that considering the present political situation, as the party aims to ensure the victory of the AIADMK-led alliance comprising the TMC and BJP,” Manila Congress chief GK Vasan said in a statement on Friday.
This statement came, a day after Vasan met the AIADMK team led by former Minister D Jayakumar.

Senior AIADMK leaders like Benjamin, Gokula Indira, and Valarmathi were also at the meeting held at Vasan’s residence on Thursday and held discussions regarding the bypoll.

However, no official confirmation has come from the AIADMK regarding the bypoll seat.

The Election Commission on Wednesday announced a byelection to the Erode (East) constituency in Tamil Nadu on February 27. The counting of votes will be done on March 2. The filing of nominations would start on January 31 and end on February 7.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party has not given any statement about it.
BJP State President Annamalai while talking with the media said, “I have spoken to AIADMK Interim General Secretary Edappadi Palaniswami and TMC President. I have conveyed their opinion to Delhi senior leaders and will say our opinion in the following days.”

According to sources, the AIADMK wishes to contest as Edappadi K Palaniswami likes to prove his leadership after the tussle with O Panneerselvam (OPS).
The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of the Congress MLA Thirumagan, the great-grandson of social reformer ‘Periyar’ E V Ramasamy and son of former Union minister E V K S Elangovan.

The by-election will be an acid test for the AIADMK as the constituency falls in its bastion of western Tamil Nadu, where the DMK is making efforts to make inroads.
Meanwhile, the AIADMK party’s leadership issue is pending before the Supreme Court and the Election Commission of India (ECI).

The ECI has not yet ratified the AIADMK’s July 11 general council meeting which abolished the dual leadership formula. The poll body in its records still showed suspended Panneerselvam as the coordinator and EPS as the joint coordinator.
However, Congress is looking to retain the constituency, which is one of the 25 seats allotted to it in the DMK’s Secular Progressive Alliance.

In the last elections, Congress won the seat by defeating the Tamil Maanila Congress.