Erode (East) bypoll 2025 |47 candidates in fray

The 10-hour long impasse over the nomination of a woman candidate from Bengaluru for the Erode (East) Assembly byelection ended at 3 a.m. on Tuesday (January 21, 2025), with election officials rejecting her nomination as she was not an ordinarily a resident of Tamil Nadu. The number of contestants was revised from 47 to 46.

The byelection was necessitated by the death of Congress legislator E.V.K.S. Elangovan, and the Election Commission announced the schedule on January 7. Out of 65 nominations, 54 were accepted, three were rejected and eight were withdrawn. By 3 p.m. on Monday, Returning Officer and Corporation Commissioner N. Manish told media persons that 47 candidates were contesting and that symbol allocation would commence shortly.

Symbol allocation began at 4 p.m., but trouble erupted when three independents, K. Padmarajan, A. Noormuhamad and Agni Aalvar, objected to V. Padmavathi’s nomination from the Indian Political Congress Party. Citing the Representation of the People Act, 1951, they argued that her nomination should have been rejected during scrutiny on January 18 as she was not a registered voter in Tamil Nadu. Officials completed the allocation of symbols to other candidates by 5 p.m..