AIADMK complains to Tamil Nadu governor on local body polls

CHENNAI: The AIADMK on Wednesday urged Tamil Nadu governor R N Ravi to take action against all the “erring persons in the state machinery” for the alleged “transgression, collusion, impertinence and fraud” that were played on the people during the recent elections to the rural local body polls in nine districts.
A delegation led by party joint coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami met Ravi at Raj Bhavan. “A representation has been submitted to the governor, detailing the malpractices of the DMK and how it murdered democracy. The state election commission acted as a mere puppet in the hands of the DMK government,” the former chief minister told reporters later.
He alleged that the AIADMK winners were announced as losers by the officials, while the rival DMK candidates were declared elected. The party moved the court after it failed to evoke any response from the commission for a free and fair poll, but even the court directions were not implemented by the commission.
The petition alleged that violations were committed at every stage of the election such that the ruling party would have a clear advantage over other parties. At the behest and insistence of the ruling party, the bureaucracy made a mockery of the election process, and nominations of many AIADMK candidates were rejected.
Ministers and MLAs held meetings with poll officials, violating the model code of conduct. “The ruling party openly distributed cash and other benefits to public to procure votes,” the AIADMK alleged.
Palaniswami said that he also took up the issue of ‘deterioration’ of law and order in the state with the governor. He said he was “anguished over the silence of the media,” and recalled an alleged incident of a minister’s assistant slapping a traffic police in Tuticorin district.