Erode Bypolls: Polling going on smoothly, monitoring through CCTVs, says District Collector

The polling is going on smoothly, all locations are being monitored by CCTVs that are connected to a centralized station, said District Collector H Krishnan Unni on Monday as bypolls to Erode East assembly constituency are underway in the state.

While talking to ANI, District Collector Unni said, "All locations are monitored by CCTV and are connected to a centralized station. On the guidelines of the Election Commission of India (ECI), we have several lines for the public to report violations or clear doubts."

"The poll is going smoothly, we are monitoring the process. There are 238 polling booths with micro-service in place and in vulnerable polling stations there is Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) for security," the District Collector added.

A voter turnout of 27.89 per cent was recorded in Erode East Assembly bypoll in Tamil Nadu till 11 am, informed the ECI.

The polling for the tightly-contested Erode East bypoll began at 7 am.

Significantly, a total of 77 candidates across political affiliations are vying for the prized Assembly constituency.

However, the bypoll is being essentially seen between Congress candidate EVKS Elangovan and AIADMK's Thennarasu.

Elangovan is contesting the bypoll with the support of the DMK, which is also Congress' bigger partner in the ruling alliance.

After the recent Supreme Court ruling, which allowed him to remain at the helm of the AIADMK, former Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami has a chance to emerge as a tall leader and reaffirm his hold on the party if the outcome of the Erode bypoll goes his way.

However, the AIADMK faces a stiff contest from the ruling DMK in the battle for the prized seat, with the Naam Tamizlar Katchi (NTK), the Desiya Morpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) and several other players also in the fray.

A total of 1206 officers, 286 presiding officers, 858 polling officers and 62 additional officers, have been stationed for poll duty.

As many as 238 polling centres have been set up across 52 places.

The bypoll was necessitated after the sudden demise of Congress MLA Thirumahan Eveera.

( With inputs from ANI )

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