DMK fields V.C. Chandhirakumar as candidate for Erode (East) bypoll

DMK announces V.C. Chandhirakumar as candidate for Erode East bypoll following Congress MLA's demise. Scheduled for February 5.

The ruling DMK, on Saturday (January 11, 2025) has announced V.C. Chandhirakumar as its candidate for the Erode East Assembly constituency. The constituency goes to bypoll because of the recent demise of Congress MLA EVKS Elangovan.

Mr. Chandhirakumar, the party’s assistant propaganda secretary, had represented the DMDK in the Assembly before switching over to the DMK.

The bypoll is scheduled to be held on February 5.

DMK president and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin announced the alliance’s candidate. In a statement, he said that after discussions with the Congress, the decision was made to field a DMK candidate.

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K. Selvaperunthagai, in a statement on Friday, said that the 2026 Assembly elections in the State are just 10 months away and based on the request of Mr. Stalin, who heads the INDIA bloc in the State, it was unanimously decided by the All India Congress Committee and the TNCC that the DMK would field its candidate for the bypoll.

A postgraduate in Public Administration, Mr. Chandhirakumar, a wholesale textile trader, joined the DMDK as its propaganda secretary when the party was founded in 2005. In 2011, during the Assembly election held for the Erode (East) Assembly constituency after the delimitation exercise, he defeated K.S. Thennarasu of AIADMK and became an MLA. In 2016, he joined DMK and contested unsuccessfully in the 2016 Assembly election. From 2016, he has held the position of the party’s joint propaganda secretary.

It may be noted that Mr. Stalin attended the family wedding reception of Mr. Chandhirakumar during his visit to Erode on December 19, 2024.