Erode bypoll: Congress candidate Elangovan calls on CM Stalin, says he is confident of winning

Elangovan, who announced a couple of days ago that he would not be contesting the polls, was named as the Congress candidate Sunday by the All India Congress Committee (AICC).

By: Express Web Desk

Chennai | January 23, 2023 02:49 PM IST

3 min read

EVKS Elangovan, tamil nadu news, tamil nadu bypolls, indian express

EVKS Elangovan. (File)

Listen to this article

Your browser does not support the audio element.

Tamil Nadu Congress candidate for the Erode East bypoll E V K S Elangovan, along with senior party leaders, met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin at DMK headquarters in Chennai on Monday.

Addressing reporters, Elangovan said he called on Stalin to thank him for providing his support to Congress in the election.

Also Read | Congress fields EVKS Elangovan in Tamil Nadu bypoll

The bypoll scheduled to take place on February 27 was necessitated by the death of Elangovan’s son and Congress MLA Thirumahan Everaa.

Elangovan, who announced a couple of days ago that he would not be contesting the polls, was named as the Congress candidate Sunday by the All India Congress Committee (AICC). There was speculation that the ticket would be provided to Sanjay Sampath, the younger son of Elagovan.

The former president of Tamil Nadu Congress, Elangovan said he requested Stalin to take part in the election campaign in Erode and the chief minister agreed to it.

“Even before Congress named the candidate, the DMK ministers were actively engaged in campaigning for Congress and we thanked the chief minister for that,” he said.

Elangovan noted that he would seek the support of other allies, including the Left parties, Viduthalai Siruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Vaiko’s Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, as well as meet actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam leader Kamal Haasan.

Story continues below this ad

“Stalin is a protector of Tamil and Tamils, people of this state have great faith in him. They will definitely support and vote for the Congress in this election,” Elangovan added.

When asked what made him change his stand and contest the polls, Elagovan said he did not want to tell in detail and noted that the Congress high command and other leaders of his alliance wanted him to contest the polls and for their trust in him, he decided to contest the polls and was confident the Congress would secure a big victory. He added that the Opposition AIADMK has not named a candidate yet as they are in confusion.

Meanwhile, VCK leader Thol Thirumavalvan Sunday said the situation prevailing in AIADMK will favour the BJP and it will lead to their growth in Tamil Nadu, which according to him, is not good for either the AIADMK or Tamil Nadu.

With AIADMK announcing it would contest the bypoll, the BJP is yet to declare whether they would contest the polls or support their alliance partner’s candidate.

From the homepage