Chennai: Inching a step closer to his desire of projecting himself as the alternative to Chief Minister MK Stalin, EPS has succeeded in making the electoral contest in Erode East assembly segment as a battle between the AIADMK and the DMK-Congress combine. With his faction obtaining the party symbol, the rival camp of OPS and the wavering BJP have been left with no other option but to support his candidate, KS Thennarasu.
EPS has been striving hard to change the political narrative of Stalin Vs others into Stalin Vs EPS. With the AIADMK remaining divided, BJP state president attempted to present the saffron party as the alternative to the ruling DMK. Since the BJP was an ally, EPS had to protect his political turf without openly antagonising the national party, a marginal player in the state but in power at the centre. And for him, the byelection has come as an opportunity to assert his primacy and that of the AIADMK.
As soon as the Election Commission notified the bypoll close on the heels of the demise of the sitting legislator Thirumahan Everaa of the Congress, the EPS faction swung into action, convincing the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) of GK Vasan, MP, which contested unsuccessfully last time, to concede it. TMC's M Yuvaraja had lost the seat by a margin of nearly 9,000 votes in 2021. It was a coup that neither the BJP nor the OPS camp could anticipate. For, given the uncertainty over either of the factions getting the 'Two Leaves' symbol, the BJP as well as the OPS faction were in the hope of the TMC contesting on the 'Lotus' symbol. And it was also the norm and tradition to leave the seat to the party that had contested previously.
Also read: TN bypoll: OPS falls in line, EPS nominee secures AIADMK symbol
“It was a masterstroke by EPS since the Erode East seat comes under the Kongu region (western Tamil Nadu), where the OBC Goundars community is dominant. Not only EPS hails from the community, the AIADMK reaped a rich harvest in the 2021 assembly election, winning a lion's share of its 66 MLAs from this belt. On the other hand, OPS has no support as he is a OBC Thevar, concentrated in a few southern districts while the BJP has negligible presence here. As such, EPS can't be expected to stay off from the contest as it provided an opportunity to claim sole leadership of the AIADMK by ensuring that the region remains a hunting ground for the AIADMK,” explains P Ramajayam of the Centre for Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, Bharathidasan University, Trichy. “For all practical purposes, the 'Dharma Yyuddham'of OPS has come to a naught,” he added.
The writing on the wall was clear to the OPS camp even before the Election Commission allotted the symbol to the EPS faction and it had announced the withdrawal of its candidate Senthil Murugan on Monday morning itself. Earlier, OPS had all along maintained that he would withdraw the candidate if the BJP desired to contest the election. After EC's decision on the symbol became known, Annamalai in a statement said, “we have persisted with OPS to support Thennarasu as he is a strong candidate who could take on the Congress-DMK combine.” Earlier, he and other BJP leaders have maintained that it was the institution – read AIADMK - which is important and not the individual and the party would support the candidate with the 'Two Leaves' symbol. Now, it had cast its lot on EPS, considering him as the better bet.
In a related development, VK Sasikala's nephew, TTV Dhinakaran announced on Tuesday that his Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), has opted out of the contest, blaming the EC for not allotting the 'cooker' symbol to the party. As such, EPS has the advantage of consolidating the AIADMK votes.
Also read: TN bypoll: EPS and OPS announce candidate, BJP in a fix
Having crossed the hurdles on his way one by one and resisting the pressure from the BJP without burning bridges, EPS is proving to be smart enough in playing his cards. But, will this change the current narrative of Stalin Vs others into Stalin Vs EPS in 2026? “The political moves of EPS are clearly in that direction. Well, the byelection has given him an advantage. But, it depends upon EPS managing to secure a respectable number of votes given the fact that the Congress, backed by the DMK and its allies, will be able to garner around 60 to 65 percent of the votes. It is a litmus test that he has taken,” reasons Raveendran Duraisamy, a right wing analyst.
The bypoll is being held following the demise of Thirumahan Everaa and his father and Congress veteran EVKS Elangovan is the candidate of the DMK-Congress Front. While a galaxy of DMK ministers are engaged in election work even before the Congress named its candidate, Chief Minister MK Stalin is slated to campaign for two days from February 24. His son and recently inducted minister Udhayanidhi is to canvas for votes for two days from February 19. Not lagging behind, the AIADMK too had launched its campaign with door to door canvassing besides releasing the list of star campaigners. And EPS is commencing his campaign on February 12. The ultra Tamil nationalist, Naam Tamilar Katchi of film maker seeman has fielded Menaka, party's district women's wing chief.The deadline for withdrawal of nominations is February 10 and polling is on February 27 with counting slated for March 2.
