Polling for the Erode East byelection began here on Monday, with district collector Krishnan Unni being among the early voters.Voting began at 7 am.?

While 77 candidates are in fray, the battle is likely between DMK-backed Congress candidate EVKS Elangovan and AIADMK's KS Thennarasru. Nam Tamizhar Katchi's Meneka Navaneethan is among the other candidates.

The outcome of the election, first since the DMK came to power in 2021, will have no major bearing on the existing strength of the respective parties but is being seen as an indicator of the ruling party's popularity.

The election was necessitated due to the death of Elangovan's son and Congress legislator E Thirumahan Everaa. The constituency has a little over 2.27 lakh voters and 238 polling stations.