Die is cast in Erode East, poll percentage dips to 67.97 per cent

ERODE: The by-election to the Erode East assembly constituency, which fell vacant for the second time in the 16th state assembly due to the sudden demise of Congress leader EVKS Elangovan, went off peacefully, with a minor incident of scuffle between DMK and NTK cadres. With the main opposition parties - AIADMK, BJP, PMK, and DMDK - deciding to boycott the by-election, the voting percentage came down marginally.

At the end of the polling on Wednesday, the constituency recorded around 67.97 % votes. This is less than 74.79% votes polled during the previous by-election held on February 27, 2023.

All the wards in the constituency saw brisk polling, from the start of the polling at 7 am. Despite the hot weather, people waited in long queues in front of the polling booths to exercise their franchise.

Though a total of 46 candidates are in the fray, which forced the Election Commission of India to use three EVMs in each polling booth, the real fight is between the DMK’s VC Chandrakumar and NTK’s MK Seethalakshmi.

“On Wednesday morning, polling started on time in all 237 polling booths. However, there were minor issues in a few places. EVM’s malfunctions at 14 polling booths. However, they were fixed in a short time,” officials said.

Sources pointed at another incident at Valayakara Street polling station that led to an argument.

“When Farida Begum, a resident of the area, went to vote at booth 168, the officials informed her that her vote had already been cast. This led to an argument with the officials and she later went to lodge a complaint with the returning officer,” sources said.

“The officials refused to show the signature of the person who cast my vote,” Begum said.

Upon learning of this, NTK candidate MK Seethalakshmi inspected the relevant booth and said, “Officials explained to me that this confusion has arisen due to the same name. They have assured that the woman will be given the opportunity to vote. DMK functionaries are threatening our booth agents. There are complaints of DMK cadre casting fake votes in some booths. The Election Commission should investigate this.”

Meanwhile, on Wednesday evening, NTK accused DMK functionaries of casting fake votes at the Veerappanchatram polling station. But officials at the polling station denied it. Following this, a scuffle broke out between DMK and NTK cadres outside the booth. The police intervened and brought the situation under control.The voting was completed by 6 pm.

TNIE’s efforts to reach returning officer SK Srikanth over phone went in vain.

District Election Officer Raja Gopal Sunkara, said, “A complaint has been received regarding a fake vote. However, there is no possibility for this. Investigation is under way.”

After polling, the EVMs were taken to the counting centre set up at Government College of Engineering in Chithode, where the votes will be counted on February 8, said an election official.