The Hindu : Panel to create right poll atmosphere

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 16, 2003

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Panel to create right poll atmosphere

By R.K.Radhakrishnan

CHENNAI SEPT.15. The State Government has constituted a high-power committee to visit four villages, where caste divides have made difficult implementation of constitutional mandates on reservation for Scheduled Castes, ahead of the October 9 local bodies elections.

The committee is also expected to "create an atmosphere conducive to the conduct of the elections." Filing of nominations began today. Pappapatti, Keeripatti, Kottakachiyendhal and Nattarmangalam, where the post of panchayat president has been reserved for the SC, have not allowed a Dalit to occupy the post.

In one recent instance, though Pappapatti and Keeripatti elected a president, they resigned immediately after the elections. The situation persists regardless of the party in power in the State.

It was in 1996 that these villages — along with many others in the State — were reserved for SCs for ten years. Since then there has been sporadic trouble each time local bodies elections are announced.

The State Election Commissioner, V.Palanichamy, today told presspersons here that the Government had constituted a committee as per an order dated September 12. The PWD Minister, O.Paneerselvam heads the nine-member panel. The other members are C. Karuppasamy and Inbathamizhan (both ministers), C. Srinivasan, K. Malaisamy and S.P.M. Syed Khan (all MPs) and K.K.Sivasamy and L.Santhanam (MLAs). Earlier, the Commission wrote to the State Government on the situation in the villages and pointed out that after the October 2001 Statewide elections, it held at least three `casual' elections. But the response from these villages was poor.

Asked whether it was the SEC letter or the observation by the Commission of Scheduled Castes that made the Government constitute the committee, Mr. Palanichamy said the GO said the panel was constituted "to find out the reason for the non-conduct of panchayat elections, to explain to the local people their right to rule themselves"

September 22 is the last day for filing of nominations. Scrutiny is slated for the next day while nominations can be withdrawn till September 25. Counting will be taken up on October 10 and the election process will come to a close on October 11. Indirect elections, if any, would be held on October 20. Mr. Palanichamy said of the 74,631 candidates, who had contested the rural local body elections since October 2001, as many as 59,959 submitted details relating of their election expenditure, a mandatory requirement.

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