Chennai, March 2 : The DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance candidate and senior leader of the Congress party, E.V.K.S. Elangovan is cruising for a comfortable victory in Erode East Assembly constituency where counting is in progress. After the third round of counting was over, Elangovan was leading by a margin of 15,627 votes over his nearest rival, K.S. Thennarasu of the AIADMK. While the Congress candidate got 23,902 votes, the AIADMK candidate received 8,275 votes. The NTK candidate Megna Navaneetan could secure 514 votes while the DMDK candidate, S. Anand was able to get 90 votes only. In all three rounds, Elangovan has maintained the lead from his nearest rival K.S. Thennarasu. The election to the Erode East bypoll was necessitated after the sitting legislator, E. Thirumahan Everaa passed away on January 4. The DMK-led front has fielded his father and senior Congress leader and former Union minister EVKS Elangovan in this constituency. The AIADMK, which is mired in controversies and inner party squabbles, could not quite find ground in Erode East due to various reasons, including the sympathy factor for EVKS Elangovan. It may also be noted that the Congress candidate E. Thirumahan Everaa had won the seat by a margin of 8,904 votes against his nearest rival M. Yuvaraj of the Tamil Manila Congress. The support extended by Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) of superstar Kamal Haasan has also benefitted the DMK-led front candidate. It is to be noted that the MNM has garnered 10,000 votes in the 2021 Assembly elections. /IANS