Chennai, Dec 17 (IANS): The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly has officially declared the Erode East constituency vacant following the death of senior leader and former state Congress chief E.V.K.S. Elangovan.
The vacancy has been communicated to the Election Commission of India. According to election rules, a by-election must be conducted within six months when an Assembly constituency becomes vacant.
Consequently, a by-election for the Erode East constituency is expected to take place in January or February 2025.
Elangovan, who was admitted to a private hospital in Chennai for respiratory complications, passed away on December 14.
Notably, Elangovan contested elections for the Erode East Assembly seat after the untimely demise of his son and sitting MLA, Thirumahan Everaa.
A prominent figure in Tamil Nadu politics, Elangovan was the grand-nephew of social reformer and Dravidian icon E.V. Ramasamy Periyar.
He was the son of E.V.K. Sampath, a close associate of former DMK Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai, and Sulochana Sampath, who was associated with the AIADMK.
Elangovan’s political career began in his student days when he was elected Secretary of the Presidency College Students’ Congress in 1967.
Over the decades, he held several key positions in the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC). He was president of the Erode District Youth Congress (1978–1980), president of the Erode City Congress Committee (1980–1982), general secretary of the Erode District Congress Committee (1982–1983), president of the Erode District Congress Committee (1990–1996), Member of the All India Congress Committee, General Secretary of TNCC (1998–2000), President of TNCC (2000–2002, 2014–2016), Working President of TNCC (2002–2003).
He was also an active trade unionist, particularly with the transport wing of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC).
Known for his outspoken nature, Elangovan frequently clashed with prominent Dravidian leaders, including former Chief Ministers M. Karunanidhi and J. Jayalalithaa, even during alliances between Congress and their respective parties.
Interestingly, Jayalalithaa was his classmate.
Elangovan once accused the AIADMK, under Jayalalithaa’s leadership, of aligning with outfits sympathetic to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), an organisation banned in India after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.
He also expressed discomfort when Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) founder G.K. Moopanar built ties with Jayalalithaa after the DMK joined the BJP-led government at the Centre in 1999.
In 2006, Elangovan stirred controversy by demanding a share of power for Congress in Tamil Nadu, similar to the DMK’s participation in the Union government under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).