DMK Fields VC Chandrakumar As Its Candidate for Erode East Assembly Constituency By-Election

The by-election was necessitated by the demise of EVKS Elangovan on December 14 last year.

Chennai: VC Chandrakumar has been fielded by the DMK as its candidate for by-election to Erode East Assembly constituency.

The by-election was necessitated by the demise of former president of Tamil Nadu Congress Committee and ex-Union Minister EVKS Elangovan who held the seat and passed away on December 14 last year due to illness. Earlier, Elangovan's son Thirumagan Evera, contested and won the 2021 Assembly elections from Erode East constituency in the DMK alliance. He had passed away on January 4, 2023 due to sudden illness.

Following Elangovan's demise, the Election Commission announced a by-election to the Erode East constituency. The Election Commission announced that polling will be held on February 5. The filing of nominations for the by-poll began on Friday.

Ahead of the by-election, it was speculated whether the DMK alliance will give away the seat to Congress again or will the party go it alone. There has been confusion on this for the last few days. To put an end to it, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President Selvapperundhagai issued a statement on Friday. In it, he said that DMK will contest the by-election to be held in the Erode East constituency.

Following this, DMK announced Chandrakumar as its candidate. In this regard, DMK President MK Stalin said in a statement, "In the upcoming Erode East Assembly constituency by-election, after discussions with the Congress party, it was decided that Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam will contest in this constituency". Chandrakumar is DMK's joint secretary for policy propaganda.