Erode, February 8: The counting of votes polled in the February 5 by-election to the Erode East assembly segment commenced here on Saturday morning.

The counting began at 8 am at a government college at Chithode in this district.

Postal ballots were taken up for counting first. Later, the EVMs would be opened. Earlier, on Wednesday, the western segment had recorded a voter turn out of 67.97 per cent. There are 46 candidates, including 44 independents, in the fray and the contest is only between the ruling DMK's VC Chandirakumar and Tamil nationalist party, Naam Tamizhar Katchi's (NTK) M K Seethalakshmi. Erode East By-Election 2025: DMK, NTK Engage in ‘Silent Door-to-Door Campaigning’.

Vote Counting Begins

Opposition parties, including the main opposition AIADMK, have boycotted the polls. The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of Congress MLA EVKS Elangovan last year.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)