Erode East by-poll: 70.58% polling recorded till 5 pm
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.
ADMK tussle virtually over, OPS needs to lick his wounds and reorient; BJP must wield soft touch
In the game of thrones that is Tamil Nadu politics, Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) has emerged as the undisputed king of the AIADMK, with a recent Supreme Court order recognising him as the interim general secretary and hence the tallest leader of the party.
Now, the question on everyone’s minds is who will come to the rescue of his rival O Panneerselvam, or OPS? And what happens to rebel leaders like V K Sasikala and nephew T T V Dhinakaran, whom EPS has vowed to not let return to the AIADMK?
For long, the BJP has had the OPS’s back, with the consequent fissures in the AIADMK helping it cement its position in the state. However, the BJP appears to be already acting on the realisation that OPS has lost the power battle; the Erode bypoll contest where it convinced OPS to drop his rival AIADMK candidate being a case in point.
