Erode East bypoll result: It's a huge victory but I'm in no mood to celebrate, EVKS Elangovan says

ERODE: Congress candidate in Erode East bypoll E V K S Elangovan on Thursday said the entire credit for his impending victory in the election goes to Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin.

At the end of the fifth round of counting of votes, Elangovan had bagged 39,692 votes while his closest rival K S Thennarasu was a distant second with 13,514 votes.

Elangovan thanked all the DMK ministers who campaigned for him and his partymen who stood by him at the time of his personal loss (demise of his son and former MLA of Erode East E Thirumahan Everaa).

"This is a huge victory. But I'm not in a state of mind to celebrate. All I want to do is continue the work left by my son," he told reporters in Erode. "I will try to fulfil all the demands placed by the people of Erode East," he said.

Elangovan has been maintaining a steady lead from the time counting began. As DMK and Congress cadres jumped into celebrations, distributing sweets and bursting crackers outside the counting centre as well as in their party headquarters in Chennai, AIADMK candidate K S Thennarasu left the counting centre by 11am.