In a letter to DMK cadre, Stalin described it as a “letter of hope” saying that people have rightly identified that the DMK is a party that works for the welfare of Tamil Nadu and the BJP-led Union government is a party that deceives the state.

“The AIADMK and BJP have boycotted the Erode East constituency by-election, making slanderous allegations as usual,” Stalin said. “Without the courage to directly oppose the DMK, they are trying to provoke some scoundrels and wage an indirect war.”

Since the 1990s, bypolls in Tamil Nadu were won only by the ruling party and it is poised to continue that way since this bypoll will be a two cornered fight between the ruling DMK and S Seeman’s Tamil nationalist party, Naam Tamizhar Katchi (NTK).

Opposition parties AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party)-led NDA (National Democratic Alliance) and new political entrant actor Vijay’s TVK (Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam) have boycotted the assembly by-election. The ruling DMK will be contesting in the seat which was necessitated after its ally Congress’ sitting MLA EVKS Elangovan died last December. Elangovan, who faced the election following the death of his son and local MLA E Thirumahan Everaa.

“This time not only did the DMK want to contest but the Congress understood the political environment and announced that we will field a candidate,” said Stalin. The DMK’s candidate is former MLA VC Chandrakumar for the by-election who has been campaigning on the plank of welfare schemes rolled out by the four-year-old DMK government.

NTK fielded the party’s women wing state coordinator, M K Seethalakshmi who after her nomination had a message for chief minister Stalin not to woo voters with “freebies.”

Stalin on Sunday listed 18 projects that are being rolled out in Erode district. “As a prelude to the victory in the 2026 Assembly elections, I look forward to the great victory of the DMK in the Erode East constituency by-election as a preview,” Stalin said to his goal of winning 200 out of 234 seats in the 2026 assembly elections.

Both the AIADMK and BJP in response said that they are boycotting the by-election since the DMK would use unfair election practices such as money and muscle power.

AIAMDK’s organising secretary D Jayakumar said that in the previous by-election in Erode (east), the DMK had indulged in electoral malpractices such as threatening people to vote for the ruling party. “We all know how they won the previous by-election. It is unfair so we decided to boycott. We will face the people for the bigger assembly elections next year and they will vote the AIADMK back to power,” he said.