Erode East By Election Result: DMK's Chandhirakumar Wins By 90,000 Votes Against NTK, Takes Over Cong-Held Seat

Erode East By Election Result: Chandhirakumar, a former MLA, maintained a strong lead from the very first round of counting, consolidating DMK’s dominance in the constituency.

The bypoll was viewed as a curtain raiser for Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections 2026. 

Source : Special arrangement

Erode East By Election Result 2025: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) candidate VC Chandhirakumar registered a resounding victory in the Erode East bypolls on Saturday, defeating Naam Tamizhar Katchi (NTK) candidate MK Seethalakshmi by a significant margin.

Chandhirakumar, a former MLA, maintained a strong lead from the very first round of counting, consolidating DMK’s dominance in the constituency. All eyes are on NTK’s Seethalakshmi to see whether she manages to recover her election deposit.

While Chandhirakumar secured over 1 lakh votes, Seethalakshmi was trailing behind with over 23,000 votes. 

The bypoll was viewed as a curtain raiser for Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections 2026. 

VIDEO | Erode East Bypoll: DMK supporters celebrate outside counting centre in Erode as party candidate VC Chandhirakumar takes an unassailable lead of over 54,000 votes.

(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvrpG7) pic.twitter.com/mh3yt1sCrY

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 8, 2025

The Erode East Assembly constituency bypoll was conducted smoothly on Wednesday with voters turning up in good numbers despite a sluggish turnout in the afternoon. Polling took place from 7 AM to 6 PM with security arrangements in place to ensure a peaceful voting process.

The bypoll saw 46 candidates contesting, including 44 independents. However, the primary battle is between DMK’s VC Chandirakumar and NTK’s M K Seethalakshmi. The AIADMK and other opposition parties boycotted the election.

A total of 2,27,546 voters were eligible to cast their ballots. Voting was briefly disrupted at the Brahmana Periya Agraharam polling station due to a technical malfunction in an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), but officials quickly replaced it, resuming polling after a 10-minute delay.

Since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the DMK-led coalition has consistently secured victories in the state. Under the leadership of party president and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, the alliance returned to power in 2021 after a decade in opposition.

The Congress, which is part of the DMK-led alliance in the state, had previously secured the seat in the 2021 elections through its candidate E Thirumahan Everaa. Following Everaa’s passing in January 2023, his father, Elangovan, won the subsequent bypoll held in March of the same year.

Notably, Erode is the home district of rationalist EV Ramasamy 'Periyar'.

Tamil Nadu is set to hold assembly elections for all 234 seats next year.

With polling concluded, all EVMs have been secured at the counting center, and the results are set to be declared on February 8.