Congress Erode (East) Assembly bypoll candidate E.V.K.S. Elangovan, along with other Congress leaders, met Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder and actor Kamal Haasan on Monday and sought his support for his candidature.
After the meeting, at the MNM’s office in Alwarpet, Chennai, Mr. Elangovan expressed confidence that Mr. Haasan would extend his support, while the actor-politician said he would take a decision after meeting with the party’s executive committee. Ever since Mr. Haasan joined Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in Delhi last month, there has been buzz about him joining hands with the Congress.
Mr. Haasan on Monday held a meeting with the party’s office-bearers from Erode. He will hold a meeting with the party’s emergency working committee and executive committee on January 25, according to a press release.
Mr. Elangovan told reporters that if Mr. Haasan extends support for the bypoll, it would be a good start in the run up to the upcoming general elections in 2024.
Earlier, Mr. Elangovan met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M.K. Stalin at Anna Arivalayam, Chennai and requested him to campaign in the bypoll and also thanked him for letting DMK Ministers hit the campaign trail already.
He also met the leaders of other parties in the alliance, including MDMK chief Vaiko, VCK president Thol. Thirumavalavan, among others.
Meanwhile, Vijayakant’s DMDK has decided to contest alone in the bypoll and has named the party’s Erode Urban District secretary S. Anand as its candidate. The decision came after the party’s treasurer Premalatha Vijayakant held a meeting with district secretaries at Chennai.
Later, she told reporters that AIADMK’s Edappadi K. Palaniswami and O. Panneerselvam camp, BJP State president K. Annamalai and A.C. Shanmugam of the New Justice Party had sought a meeting with the DMDK but the district secretaries had wanted to contest alone.
She also said the party would wholeheartedly welcome any support from the AIADMK camps, the BJP and Tamil Mannila Congress (TMC) president G.K. Vasan. She added that there was confusion over the AIADMK’s ‘two leaves’ symbol because of various factions in the party.
Meanwhile, the TMC, which has backed the AIADMK fielding, has constituted a committee of 16 functionaries for the bypoll.
