DMK gives Erode bypoll seat to Congress

CHENNAI: The ruling DMK on Thursday allotted the Erode (East) Assembly constituency to its ally Congress for the bypoll scheduled for February 27. In a press statement, leader of the Secular Progressive Alliance in Tamil Nadu, the DMK said since the Congress had contested and won the seat in the 2021 assembly poll, the constituency has been allocated to the party again. The bypoll was necessitated by the death of Congress MLA Thirumahan Everaa, son of EVKS Elangovan, on January 4.

“If the alliance is alive, the poll pact is also alive. The seat has been allocated to the Congress as per the poll pact between the two parties in 2021,” a DMK source said. Later in the day, a Congress delegation led by TNCC president KS Alagiri and former chiefs EVKS Elangovan and Su Thirunavukkarasar met the CM and thanked him for allotting the seat. Earlier on Thursday, Congress held a statewide stir  against Governor RN Ravi. The party said the governor’s actions were against the sentiments of Tamils and Tamil Nadu and demanded that the President recall him.