Palaniswami set to announce candidate for Erode East by-poll in a day or two

AIADMKs interim general secretary K Palaniswami is all set to announce his factions candidate for the Erode East Assembly seat in a day or two, ending suspense on who would taken on the Congress heavyweight E V K S Elangovan in the February 27 by-election.

He would name the candidate with ally BJP indicating an announcement on the partys stand on supporting a common candidate for the by-poll. “Our leader Palaniswami is determined to ensure the AIADMK wins this election and has been initiating steps accordingly. He will announce the candidate soon,” said R M Babu Murugavel, AIADMK spokesperson.

Murugavel, who is the partys State joint secretary, legal wing, claimed the political fortunes are in favour of the Palaniswami-led AIADMK and that the party would not face any difficulty in securing the Two Leaves symbol from the Election Commission.

Though it remains to be seen if the expelled AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam would also take a plunge by nominating his candidate, as he has been insisting, former AIADMK leader and New Justice Party founder A C Shanmugam had appealed to him to avoid any embarrassment by fielding a candidate.

Shanmugam had recently urged the former to support a common candidate to take on the DMK combine.

Stating that his party would announce its stance in a day or two, BJP senior leader C P Radhakrishnan said the BJP would not interfere in the internal affairs of the AIADMK. “Our party president K Annamalai would make the stand clear in a day or two,” he said.

During the 2021 Assembly elections, the constituency was allotted to the Tamil Maanila Congress, which contested on the AIADMKs Two Leaves symbol and lost the seat by a margin of about 8,000 votes, to Elangovans son Thirumahan Everaa.

“As per alliance dharma, both Palaniswami and Panneerselvam had approached the BJP and sought support for their factions,” Radhakrishnan told

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