LS polls in Vellore in TN cancelled due to use of money power
New Delhi/Chennai, Apr 16: The Lok Sabha election to the Vellore constituency in Tamil Nadu was cancelled Tuesday by the Election Commission (EC) two days ahead of the polling following recovery of huge amount of cash allegedly from an associate of a DMK leader recently.
A government notification rescinding the polls said the EC was "fully satisfied that the current electoral process in Vellore has been seriously vitiated on account of unlawful activities of certain candidates and some workers of the political party."
Perhaps, this is the first time election to a Lok Sabha constituency has been cancelled over use of money power.
The byelection to RK Nagar Assembly seat in Tamil Nadu was cancelled in April 2017 following similar seizure of huge cash, allegedly meant for bribing voters.
The cancellation of the poll, scheduled for April 18 along with 38 other constituencies in the state, evoked sharp reactions from the DMK which alleged it was an attempt by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "besmirch" the party using the Election Commission.
"It is a murder of democracy. Modi has planned to wreck the polls by allegedly misusing the Enforcement Directorate, CBI, Income Tax and the Election commission," DMK president M K Stalin told reporters in Tiruchirappalli.
DMK Treasurer Duraimurugan, whose son Kathir Anand is the party candidate in Vellore seat, told PTI that cancelling the poll was a "murder of democracy."
Allies of the DMK also condemned the cancellation of the poll.
Ruling AIADMK demanded that Anand be disqualified from contesting the poll instead of cancelling the election.
The EC notification said in the commission's considered opinion conducting the poll in Vellore in such a vitiated atmosphere would "severely jeopardise the conduct of free and fair election."
Hence, the commission recommended cancelling the polls to the government which was accepted and poll for Vellore seat was annulled.
President Ram Nath Kovind issued the order rescinding the polls by amending portions of the original poll notification that called the electorate in Vellore to elect a member to the Lok Sabha.
The EC took the decision after the district police had filed a complaint against Anand as well as two party functionaries on the basis of a report from the Income Tax department on April 10.
Anand was charged under the Representation of the People Act for giving "wrong information" in his election affidavit filed along with his nomination papers, the police have said. The other two, identified as Srinivasan and Damodaran, were booked under bribery charges.
A copy of the official notification cancelling polls in Vellore was released here by Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo.
On March 30, Income Tax officials had conducted searches at the residence of Anand's father Durai Murugan over suspected use of unaccounted money for electioneering, and seized Rs. 10.50 lakh which was alleged "excess" cash.
Two days later, tax officials said they had seized Rs 11.53 crore from a cement godown belonging to a DMK leader's associate in the same district.
"Cash stuffed in cartons and gunny bags neatly packed for ward and division-wise distribution were unearthed,"officials had said.
Murugan, however, had said he had not concealed anything. Questioning the timing of the Income Tax department's operation, he had alleged that the raids were a "conspiracy" by certain political leaders who could not face them in the electoral arena.
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Post poll TN alliances divided in supporting TVK
Chennai (PTI): In a changed political atmosphere in Tamil Nadu with no single political party having a simple majority to form the government post the Assembly election, opinion is divided among the allies led by the Dravidian majors in extending external support to Vijay-led TVK in government formation.
Both the DMK and AIADMK are at unease as the Congress and also a section in the AIADMK express willingness to extend external support to Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagtam in forming the government.
Post poll, the TVK's political prospects appear to impact alliances led by both the Dravidian majors in a different manner, triggering a speculation of a split.
Leema Rose Martin, who won from Lalgudi on an AIADMK ticket, has stated that talks were underway on extending support to the TVK. Her son-in-law Aadhav Arjuna, who won from Villivakkam is TVK's general secretary.
On May 5, former AIADMK minister O S Manian, emerging from his meeting with party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, stated that AIADMK would not support TVK in forming the government.
The AIADMK, which finished third in the elections with 47 seats has cancelled its meeting of MLAs designate on Wednesday amidst a difference in extending external support to the TVK, which won 108 seats, including two seats by its founder Vijay.
As Vijay is gearing up for his swearing-in on May 7, the police have tightened security at his residence here. The party has lodged its MLA-elect at a resort in Mamallapuram and has simultaneously engaged in talks with the Congress and AIADMK, a source said.
The DMK that won 59 seats on its own, has convened a meeting of its newly elected legislators on May 7 evening and the party is likely to elect the youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin, who won from Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni as its legislature party leader.
Congress general secretary K C Venugopal admitted that TVK chief Vijay requested the Congress for support to form the government.
"The INC is clear that the mandate in Tamil Nadu is for a secular government, committed to protecting the Constitution in letter and spirit. The INC is determined not to allow the BJP and its proxies to run the government of Tamil Nadu in any manner. Thiru Vijay has also spoken about drawing inspiration from Perunthalaivar Kamaraj," he said.
Accordingly, the Congress leadership has directed the TNCC to take a final decision on Vijay’s request, keeping in view the sentiments of the state as reflected in the electoral verdict, Venugopal said in a statement.
DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai slammed the Congress decision and said the move to ally with TVK, pledging the support of its five MLAs to the party, was tantamount to "backstabbing the DMK and the people of Tamil Nadu."
"They have betrayed the mandate given by the people. Even before the ink on the returning officer’s signature on the victory certificate has dried, they have chosen to go ahead with this alliance," he told PTI.
The most important question was who took this "foolhardy decision, and how is it going to backfire on the Congress?" he asked.
"I don’t think they had any serious deliberation on this. The larger issue is their opposition to the BJP, which is their ideological enemy. We have supported the Congress throughout. It was our leader M K Stalin, who named Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate when the BJP and RSS were criticising him. And now, within a day, they say they are supporting TVK. This is not the mandate of the people of Tamil Nadu,” Saravanan said.
The Congress' exit from its long-standing alliance with the DMK will be a significant moment in the political scenario of the state, commentator and political analyst Sumanth Raman said.
The Congress may be betting on the TVK as a long-term partner option, but that comes with risks, as the TVK is as yet an unknown quantity, he said.
"For the DMK, if the TVK+Congress becomes the choice of the minorities as it well could, it is an existential threat. It was the minority vote that gave the DMK alliance a 12%-15% cushion in the polls. If that goes, their chances of winning drops dramatically," Raman said on 'X.'
The Congress won 5 seats. However, DMK's other allies, the IUML, VCK, CPI and CPI (M) and DMDK have categorically stated that they would not support TVK.
As of now, the TVK requires the support of 11 MLAs to attain a simple majority of 118 to form the government.
The PMK, which won 4 seats and AMMK one - both allies of AIADMK - have not announced their decision yet.
"AIADMK’s real post-result drama may not be outside the party, but inside it. Whispers from the west and north suggest that a Coimbatore hand and a Villupuram voice may soon ask the question everyone is avoiding: Is it time to save the party from the leadership, before the cadre are forced to do it themselves? In politics, coups don’t begin with slogans. They begin with silence, phone calls and “review meetings,” Aspire Swaminathan, who is credited with founding the AIADMK IT wing in 2014, said on 'X.'
He has resigned from the AIADMK in 2021 and now acts an as independent political analyst.
