Tight security has been put in place in Erode East as the counting of votes commenced at the Government College of Engineering, Erode on Saturday.
Erode District Collector Raja Gopal Sunkara, while speaking to media persons, said, “For safety reasons, 600 police personnel have been deployed at the counting centre, along with a company of the CISF. Additionally, the entire premises are under CCTV surveillance with 76 cameras installed, including one at each counting table.”
According to Election Commission officials, the counting of postal ballots began at 8 a.m., while the counting of EVM votes started at 8:30 a.m.
Till now, DMK candidate V.C. Chandhirakumar had got 7,961 votes while NTK candidate M.K. Seethalakshmi had received 1,081 votes.
The counting process will take place in 17 rounds across 15 tables. Each table has a counting supervisor, a counting assistant, and a micro observer, all of whom were assigned through a random selection process.
After the declaration of results, the EVMs will be transferred to a strong room at the RDO office.
A total of 246 voters — including those above 85 years of age, physically challenged individuals, personnel from the Army and Navy, and those under preventive detention — cast their votes via the postal ballot system.
As many as 46 candidates contested the bypoll, which turned into a two-cornered fight between the DMK’s V.C. Chandhirakumar and NTK candidate M.K. Seethalakshmi.
The bypoll recorded a voter turnout of 67.97 per cent, with 1,54,657 people exercising their franchise.
The bye-election was necessitated by the passing of veteran Congress leader E.V.K.S. Elangovan, who won the seat in the 2023 bypoll following the untimely demise of his son, Thirumahan Everaa, due to a heart attack on January 4, 2023.
In the 2023 bypoll, Elangovan secured victory with a margin of 66,233 votes, defeating the AIADMK’s K.S. Thenarassu, while NTK candidate Menaka Navaneethan managed to get 10,827 votes.
The 2024 Erode East bypoll, held on February 5, saw DMK’s V.C. Chandhirakumar take on M.K. Seethalakshmi of the NTK.
According to the Election Commission, the voter turnout stood at 65 per cent.