Chennai, Feb 8 (Reporter) Counting of votes polled in the February 5 bypoll to the Erode East Assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu began on Saturday with the ruling DMK candidate V C Chandrakumar establishing an early lead. District Election Officer and Erode District Collector Raja Gopal Sunkara said all arrangements were put in place for counting and the process was being monitored using CCTV cameras. Tight security arrangements were made at the Counting centre, including deployment of armed police personnel, he said. About 70 per cent of the total 2.27 lakh voters have exercised their democratic right during polling in 237 booths in the constituency, which passed off peacefully on Wednesday. The EVMs, which were sealed after polling and kept in strong rooms, were to the Counting Centre, amid tight security. The counting began at 0800 hrs at Sithode Government Engineering College. Counting of postal ballots was taken up first followed by the votes polled in EVMs. The fate of 46 candidates were already sealed in the EVMs in the bypoll, the second in this constituency in two years. Though there are 46 candidates in the fray despite major political parties staying away from the contest, the main fight was between ruling DMK's V C Chandrakumar and M K Seethalakshi of the Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) of actor-director Seeman. Initial trends showed the DMK candidate has established early leads. The bypoll, the second in two years, was necessitated following the death of Senior Congress Leader and sitting MLA EVKS Elangovan in December last year. This is the third election to this seat since 2021 in which Mr Elangovan's son Thiru Mahan E.Ve.Ra was elected to the Assembly for the first time. However, his untimely death resulted in bypoll held on February 28, 2023 and it was won by Mr Elangovan, who is also a former Union Minister and former TNCC President, by highest ever margin of over 66,000 votes and entered the State Assembly after a gap of 39 years. However, Mr Elangovan's unfortunate death in December 2024, resulted in yet another bypoll to the seat. The DMK was already assured of a win despite a low key campaign when compared to the previous bypolls. Except some Tamil Nadu Ministers and DMK MP Ms Kanimozhi, none of the top run DMK leaders, including Party President and Chief Minister M K Stalin, and star campaigner and Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin had hit the campaign trail. Political observers see this bypoll as a 'dead rubber' contest as the only question is about the margin of votes the DMK would win. Unlike in the past, it was not a high decibel election which marks byelections in the state since the 90s, with the ruling party clearly having an edge. DMK Assistant Propaganda Secretary V C Chandrakumar, who had joined the party in 2016 after quitting the actor-politician Vijayakanth-led DMDK, and NTK candidate, Ms Seethalakshmi, also the party's Women's Wing Coordinator, were the main candidates, while the rest were Independents. With the major Opposition parties, including the AIADMK, its ally the DMDK, the BJP-led NDA and the the nascent Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) of actor Vijay deciding to boycott the polls alleging that going by the past experience the elections would not be held in a free and fair manner as the DMK would unleash its money power and misuse the official machinery, the bypoll witnessed a straight contest between the DMK and the NTK...////...