Erode (East) bypoll 2025 | 55 nominations accepted, three rejected

55 nominations accepted, 3 rejected for Erode (East) Assembly byelection; major parties boycott; scrutiny process completed; symbol allocation pending.

A total of 55 nominations were accepted, while three were rejected after scrutiny for the byelection to the Erode (East) Assembly constituency, scheduled for February 5.

Following the death of Congress legislator E.V.K.S. Elangovan, the Election Commission announced the schedule for the byelection on January 7. Major political parties, including the AIADMK and the BJP boycotted the byelection. A total of 58 candidates filed 65 nominations, including DMK’s V.C. Chandhirakumar and Naam Tamilar Katchi’s M.K. Seethalakshmi.

On Saturday, the scrutiny of nominations was carried out by the Returning Officer and Corporation Commissioner N. Manish, in the presence of candidates and their representatives. The scrutiny process began at 11 a.m. and concluded by 2.15 p.m. The process was monitored by General Observer Ajay Kumar Gupta.

Mr. Manish told the media that the nominations of each of the substitute candidates for the DMK and Naam Tamilar Katchi, as well as one nomination from an independent candidate, were rejected. “Nominations can be withdrawn until 3 p.m. on January 20, after which symbols will be allotted, and the final list of contesting candidates will be released,” he added.

In response to a question about the allocation of a symbol to Naam Tamilar Katchi, Mr. Manish stated that the party had requested the ‘mike’ symbol from the Election Commission (EC). “However, we have yet to receive any communication from the EC,” he said, adding they have written to the EC seeking instructions regarding the symbol’s allocation.

When asked about the party’s symbol preferences, Mr. Manish said, the candidate had mentioned ‘sugarcane farmer’ as the first preference and ‘mike’ as the second. Since the ‘sugarcane farmer’ symbol had already been allotted, it could not be allotted. “We are awaiting final instructions from the EC, and based on that, we will allocate a symbol to the party,” he said.