Erode: Congress' EVKS Elangovan established a comfortable lead of over 18,000 votes against his nearest rival KS Thennarasu of the AIADMK in the Erode East Assembly bypoll. Counting of polled votes was proceeding on Thursday.
The clear lead of the ruling DMK backed Elangovan, at the end of the third round of counting, prompted celebrations from supporters of the Dravidian party-headed Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), whose other constituents include the two Left parties.
After 3 rounds of counting, Elangovan secured 27,843 votes while Thennarasu polled 9,146 votes. according to election authorities.
Menaka Navaneethan Naam Tamilar Katchi and DMDK's Anand secured 1,820 and 256 votes, respectively.
Commenting on the early trends that could possibly ensure his win, Elangovan said it was an indication that SPA would sweep the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the state as well. While Tamil Nadu has 39 LS seats, neighbouring Puducherry has one.
The Erode East bypoll was necessitated due to the death of Congress MLA E Thirumahan Everaa, Elangovan's son on January 4. Nearly 75 per cent votes were polled in the by-election held on February 27 in this constituency in Erode district, located some 400 km from capital Chennai.
