The stage is all set for a direct contest between the AIADMK and the Congress in the by-election for the Erode East constituency in Tamil Nadu.
After the Supreme Court’s intervention and the BJP’s efforts to paper over the differences between the O Panneerselvam (OPS) and Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) factions of the party, things have fallen in place for Palaniswami’s choice KS Thennarasu to be the Opposition candidate.
After the Election Commission of India (ECI) authorised the presidium chairman Tamil Mahan Hussian to sign in Forms A and B, which authorise the candidate to contest on the AIADMK’s Two Leaves symbol, on Tuesday, 7 February, Thennarasu filed his nomination.
Meanwhile, Panneerselvam had withdrawn his candidate, B Senthil Murugan, and paved the way not only for Palaniswami’s candidate but also for the dominance of the latter in the AIADMK, all of it with a not-so-subtle push from the BJP.
Related: Apex court directs AIADMK general council to pick candidate
United they stand
Addressing the media, KP Krishnan, a leader from the OPS faction, said that they will campaign for the AIADMK, irrespective of who the candidate was.
He also declared that OPS will put all his efforts to ensure the victory of Thennarasu and will campaign for the Two Leaves symbol chosen by Puratchithalaivar MGR (MG Ramachandran) and protected by Puratchithalaivi Amma (J Jayalalithaa).
Also Read: How EVKS Elangovan was persuaded to Contest Erode East bypoll
Meanwhile, TTV Dhinakaran has also withdrawn his candidate from the contest.
Though the reason given by Dhinakaran — that the ECI had not allotted him the Cooker symbol and contesting on another symbol would create confusion among the voters — seems logical, a closer look at the situation speaks volumes about the withdrawal of the AMMK from the fray, goaded by the BJP, that has been pushing for all splinter groups of its alliance to come together.
Though the AMMK had secured just 1,204 votes in the 2021 Assembly elections, it will now help the AIADMK cause by transferring its votes to Thennarasu in a small constituency like Erode East.
Related: ‘United AIADMK’ advice of BJP angers allies
The BJP’s play
Right from the day when EPS and OPS announced their candidates, the BJP state unit leader Annamalai was been insisting on a united and single candidate to contest against the mighty DMK alliance, which has fielded the veteran Congress leader EVKS Elangovan as its candidate.
It was apparent that Annamalai and BJP’s in-charge for Tamil Nadu CT Ravi were involved in peace talks between EPS and OPS.
The patch-up efforts worked, and, according to political observers, they have even managed to pull in Dhinakaran, which was a surprise, into their agenda for a “unified and strong” candidate. The moves suggest that the BJP will approach the upcoming parliamentary elections in 2024 with the full strength of a unified AIADMK.
The Erode East byelection, scheduled for 27 February, will be a crucial test of strength ahead of the parliamentary elections for both Palaniswami and the BJP.
