Parties seek deferring of bye-poll; report sent to Election Commission

CHENNAI/THIRUVARUR : The Election Commission (EC) will take the final call whether to go ahead with the bye-election to Thiruvarur Assembly constituency as scheduled or to defer it for some time, in a day or two as Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahu has forwarded a report sent by Thiruvarur Collector and District Election Officer, L Nirmal Raj in the matter, to the EC, Earlier in the day, representatives of major political parties, including AIADMK, DMK, CPM and Congress had reportedly conveyed to Thiruvarur Collector that the by-election should be deferred till restoration and rehabilitation works in the wake of cyclone ‘Gaja’ were completed.  

The by-election was necessitated by the death of former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi. However, following a petition by D Raja, CPI Rajya Sabha MP, EC had directed the CEO to submit a report about the situation in Thiruvarur. Meanwhile, in Chennai, Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar told reporters: “All parties in Thiruvarur expressed the view that the by-election should not be held now since it would affect the ongoing restoration works. 

“Though AIADMK is always ready to face the election at any time, we concur with the views of other political parties in Thiruvarur.” In a related development, AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam and joint coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami interviewed 45 aspirants who had expressed willingness to contest the Thiruvarur bye-poll.  In all, 52 had expressed their willingness and of them, seven could not attend the interview due to unavoidable circumstances. 

Panneerselvam and Palaniswami said, “We will announce our candidate within a day or two.” When asked whether the AIADMK was afraid of facing the by-election, Palaniswami said “When Yercaud by-election was announced in the past, the DMK leaders were highly hopeful about their victory.  But the late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa firmly said the Yercaud by-election would be a forerunner for the massive victory of AIADMK in the next Lok Sabha elections and AIADMK had proved it so.   So, the AIADMK is not afraid of facing elections.” 

On the delay in announcing the party’s candidate, he said “There is time till January 10 for filing nominations.  So, at an appropriate time, the candidate will be announced.” Asked about the view that the by-election should be deferred, Panneerselvam, without giving a direct reply, said: “AIADMK is ready to face the election anytime.” 

Meanwhile, at Mannargudi, talking to reporters, AMMK deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran said “All political parties - AIADMK, DMK, Congress, CPI, CPM and VCK are afraid of facing this by-election. “The views expressed by them at the all party meeting convened by Thiruvarur Collector have proved this.”