A day after the Election Commission announced the by-election schedule for the Erode (East) Assembly constituency, a delegation of senior office-bearers of the AIADMK called on the president of the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC - Moopanar) G.K. Vasan on Thursday.
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The meeting, lasting around 40 minutes, assumes relevance, as the constituency was assigned by the AIADMK to the TMC during the 2021 Assembly elections. The by-election has been necessitated by the death of E. Thirumahan Everaa of the Congress early this month.
The AIADMK’s organisation secretary, D. Jayakumar, accompanied by former Ministers B. Valarmathi, Gokula Indira and P. Benjamin met Mr Vasan.
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The day’s development followed the TMC (M) chief meeting the party’s interim general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Tuesday and the two leaders having conversations over the phone twice on Wednesday.
Hinting at one more meeting with Mr. Palaniswami, the TMC (M) leader told The Hindu that leaders of the two parties would hold consultations again. “We will announce our decision in a few days,” Mr. Vasan said.
Emphasising that his party’s equations with the AIADMK were “cordial” and “smooth,” Mr. Vasan said “winnability” was the key factor and the idea was to ensure the victory of the Opposition in the by-election, which called for the deployment of strategies that would suit the situation.
Mr. Jayakumar said “essentially,” the day’s meeting was a courtesy call. Both Mr. Vasan and Mr. Jayakumar refused to reveal which of the parties -- AIADMK or the TMC (M) -- would contest in the by-poll. To a query about the trouble that the principal Opposition party might face in getting the symbol of ‘Two Leaves’, Mr. Jayakumar told reporters that the question would arise only after deciding who should enter the fray.
Mr. Vasan claimed that compared to many other State governments, the DMK government in Tamil Nadu was now suffering from the “highest degree” of anti-incumbency in a short span of time.