Erode East by-poll: 70.58% polling recorded till 5 pm

Voting began at 7 am across 238 polling stations in the constituency. Till 5 pm, the voter turnout was 70.58 per cent.

Election officials sealed the EVMs at the polling stations and later shifted them to the counting centre at the Government College of Engineering in Chithode. (ANI)

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Barring some instances of EVM (Electronic Voting Machine) glitches and a few complaints of alleged cash distribution by DMK workers, the Erode East by-poll in Tamil Nadu concluded smoothly Monday. The bye-election was necessitated owing to the death of sitting Congress MLA Thirumahan Everaa.

Voting began at 7 am across 238 polling stations in the constituency. Till 5 pm, the voter turnout was 70.58 per cent. Over 2,500 police and paramilitary personnel were deployed for election duty.

The assembly constituency has about 2.27 lakh eligible voters. Those who entered the polling booth before 6 pm, were provided tokens and allowed to cast their votes beyond the deadline.

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Election officials sealed the EVMs at the polling stations and later shifted them to the counting centre at the Government College of Engineering in Chithode, where a three-tier security ring has been put in place.

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District collector H Krishnanunni was among the early voters. DMK-backed Congress candidate EVKS Elangovan, AIADMK’s KS Thennarasu, and Naam Thamizhar Katchi’s Menaka Navaneedhan also cast their votes. It is to be noted that a total of 77 candidates including 47 independents are in the fray.

After casting his vote at a school on Kutchery Street, Congress candidate Elangovan said the governance of Chief Minister MK Stalin and Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra have made a huge impact on the public.

“I believe the majority of people will vote for the hand symbol of the Congress. We will win by a huge margin. This victory will be like a preview for the Lok Sabha polls. The Opposition parties are making allegations against us as they know well that they can’t win this bye-poll,” Elangovan said. Another candidate and former MLA KS Thennarasu said he will win by a margin of more than 25,000 votes.

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The by-poll has been the centre of attraction in Tamil Nadu in the past few weeks. From Chief Minister MK Stalin to Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami, all prominent leaders were involved in canvassing votes for their candidates at the Erode East assembly constituency as the mandate was seen as an indicator of the ruling alliance’s popularity with Lok Sabha elections scheduled to take place next year.

The counting of votes will take place on March 2.

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