As the clock is ticking for the crucial bypoll in Tamil Nadu's Erode East constituency, a league of leaders has been zeroed in the race that will happen at a high time ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The Erode East bypoll will be held on February 27 and the results will be announced on March 2. The top notch battle and a convergence of political cadres have been drawing huge attention from across the state.

As the campaigning for the Erode East bypoll is all set to end in the evening of Saturday - February 25, the political leaders are rolling out their tours across the constituency for the one last time before the polls. In the climax of the campaigning, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President MK Stalin has visited the constituency and toured various places to seek votes for the DMK backed Congress candidate EVKS Elangovan.

Hailing Erode as the foundation of the DMK, Stalin went on to press that his government has been working to fulfill the poll promises that were made by the party when it ran for power in the 2021 assembly polls. Accompanied by the candidate EVKS Elangovan by his side and by the colony of cadres, MK Stalin held a campaign at Erode East by stopping over and speaking to the voters in multiple spots.

As Elangovan is the father of deceased Congress MLA of Erode East, Thirumahan Everaa, whose demise had necessitated the bypoll, MK Stalin said that father Elangovan has come to fulfill his son's duty. He said, "Erode is the foundation of the party. Thanthai Periyar was born in Erode." "Father Elangovan has come to fulfill his son's duty. Karunanidhi's son has come to seek votes for EVK Sampath's son", Stalin added. 

Asserting that his government's ultimate aim is to ban NEET in Tamil Nadu, Stalin had listed out the schemes and governance of his administration as he wooed the voters. As one of the poll promises of DMK - providing Rs 1000 financial aid per month for women, that has been dormant for a long while, Stalin has assured the voters that his government would formally announce in the upcoming budget session in March about when the scheme will be implemented. 

MK Stalin has also sought the support from the voters for Elangovan in a fashion that would made the opposition ADMK candidate lose his deposit. The Chief Minister has also held a walk show where he met the voters and interacted with them. As in every election, it will be direct clash between DMK and ADMK and with several predictions, the DMK alliance is holding an advantage in the poll. 

Amid the turmoil in the party, the ADMK faction-led by Edappadi Palaniswami campaigned for the party's candidate Thennarasu and Palaniswami gave the last-minute campaign address on Friday in support of the party's candidate. While Seeman's Naam Tamilar Katchi and Vijayakanth's DMDK are contesting independently, Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam has extended its support to the Congress candidate, with the actor had done campaigning for EVKS Elangovan recently. 

Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo on Friday said that the Erode East bypoll will be held on February 27 from 7 am to 6 pm with the stringent implementation of the model code of conduct. He also said that regulation under Secton 126 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, would come into operation from 6 pm on February 25 till the end of the poll. 

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— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) February 25, 2023