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The February 27 bypoll to the Erode East Assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu, which has been necessitated following the demise of Congress MLA E. Thirumahan Everaa earlier this month, is heating up with Congress nominee and former Union minister E.V.K.S. Elangovan all set to file his nomination on February 3.
Elangovan is the father of the deceased Congress MLA, Thirumahan Everaa. Elangovan has already stated that Chief Minister M.K. Stalin's popularity will be a major factor that help him sail through in the elections. The AIADMK has already announced that the party would be contesting the polls against the DMK front candidate, Elangovan. The party will announce its candidate in a couple of days, with former MLA and party leader Thenarasu being the front-runner. In the 2021 Assembly elections, Congress candidate Thirumahan Everaa had defeated M. Yuvaraj of the Tamil Manila Congress by a margin of 8,294 votes. While there are speculations of the O. Panneerselvam faction of the AIADMK contesting the polls from Erode East, the possibility seems slim. One of the founder leaders of AIADMK and presently the President of the National Justice Party, Shanmugham has called upon Panneerselvam not to contest the polls. He also told both Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) and O. Panneerselvam (OPS) that he would mediate in their dispute and settle it at the earliest for the benefit of the party. With election scheduled on February 27 and the two major fronts taking on each other, it will be a prestige fight for EPS. The AIADMK is in the middle of a bitter power struggle between OPS, who is the deposed coordinator of the party, and EPS, the present interim general secretary of AIADMK. --IANS aal/arm ( 299 Words) 2023-01-28-23:04:01 (IANS)
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