Amid Congress win, Stalin says who should not become PM matters more

Elangovan was in the lead since the first round of counting while the gap between him and the nearest rival continued to increase by several thousands every round.

Chennai/Erode:Chief Minister MK Stalin hailed the verdict as people have spoken which will serve as the precursor to the 2024 General Election victory. Even before the official results were out, parties began celebrating the win of Congress candidate EVKS Elangovan in the Erode East Assembly Constituency byelection.

Who shouldn't win LS Polls?Stalin was asked to whether he would prop up a united Opposition Prime Minister candidate. The DMK president said I keep repeating this. I told the same thing yesterday. It is not who becomes the Prime Minister. It is who should not. Our policy is who should not be at the helm of affairs.

Asked whether he would play a national role as suggested former J&K CM Farooq Abdullah, Stalin said he was already in national politics. I have admitted that in my acceptance speech. I have already made myself clear (on the DMK's role in national politics), the Dravidian party chief added.

As regards to the Erode byelection, Stalin said, "I have asked the people to treat this election as an assessment to judge the ruling party's performance and weigh in their votes accordingly. Now, people have spoken. I also thank the voters for handing out such a massive victory for the Congress senior leader Elangovan,"

Cadres of the ruling DMK broke into celebrations soon after the Congress leader went ahead and began leading in the counting process. 77 candidates were in the fray. Primary contest remained bipolar between the Dravidian parties despite the DMK's ally Congress being given the ticket in the alliance.

No people mandate-BJP state unit president K Annamalai said they accept the people's mandate. Many of us know only the ruling party will win the byelection most of the times, he said while rejecting the claims of the ruling DMK that the mandate being dubbed as the fruition of the good regime. He maintained that the 2024 election will be that of the BJP.

The counting of votes began at 8 am at the Government Engineering College (IRTT), Chithode. Postal votes were counted first. The win takes the Congress legislators number in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly to 18 as it was prior to the dip due to the demise of the Congress candidate's son Thirumahan Everaa.

The Erode byelection was the first one after the DMK came to power in 2021. The byelection as projected did not alter the composition of the political parties in the House of the 234-member Assembly.