Congress candidate and senior leader E.V.K.S. Elangovan said on Tuesday that his prospects were bright in the Erode (East) Assembly by-election as the ruling DMK and other allies had started campaigning in the constituency.
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He was speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a consultative meeting organised by the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee in Tiruvannamalai. Mr. Elangovan said he entered the fray because he did not want to disobey the orders of the party leadership.
“Everyone, including Chief Minister and DMK president M.K. Stalin, recommended my name. Being a party worker, I always go along with the decision of the leadership,” he said.
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Mr. Elangovan, who was on his way to Erode, halted at Tiruvannamalai to get the wishes of TNCC president K.S. Alagiri before starting his campaign.
Earlier, he said he had come to the town to get the blessings of ‘Annamalaiyar’, the presiding deity of the Arunachaleshwarar Temple, and not of another ‘Annamalai’, a reference to BJP president K. Annamalai.
Dubbing the BJP’s president a “paper tiger”, Mr. Alagiri challenged Mr. Annamalai to contest from Erode (East). “He can contest with the support of the AIADMK. Can he accept the challenge?,” Mr. Elangovan asked.