The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : It may be yet another dummy byelection

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 15, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

It may be yet another dummy byelection

By S. Sundar

MADURAI, SEPT. 14. Efforts by the State Election Commission to conduct byelection to the three reserved panchayats of Pappapatti, Keeripatti and Nattarmangalam are unlikely to produce the desired result, as caste Hindus are in no mood to relent.

There is no likelihood of conducting a byelection at all. If any Dalit community member files nomination, it will be countered by the caste Hindus, fielding a `dummy' candidate, who will resign immediately on winning, as in the past two elections, according to police sources.

The District Collector, D. Raajendiran, and the Superintendent of Police, T. Sundaresan, today visited the three villages seeking cooperation from the residents for smooth conduct of poll. The reply from the caste Hindus in all three villages was the same: "We do not prevent them (Dalits) from contesting. They themselves do not want to contest."

The Dalits said that they could not contest as they were "dependent" on the caste Hindus for "everything". Subramanian, a representative of the Dalits, said residents of villages under the Pappapatti panchayat — Pappapatti, Karayanpatti and Pahathevanpatti — should unanimously elect a candidate for the president's post. Referring to the dominance of the caste Hindus, he said that they would not vote for a candidate backed by Dalits , but would field a `dummy' Dalit candidate, who would resign.

The Collector told the residents, "Usually people come to me seeking help. I fulfil them. But, this time, I have come to you and I hope you will extend your cooperation."

The caste Hindus demanded that the local bodies be reclassified as "general". They said some important heads of the villages were not present and promised to let him know about their decision after discussing the issue in a couple of days. An official, who was part of the team, said that the caste Hindus were "unyielding".

The last date of filing nominations is September 16.

While election could not be held to the Nattarmangalam and Keeripatti panchayats the last two times, in Pappapatti, candidates sponsored by the caste Hindus, won the last two byelections but resigned immediately.

The number of Dalit voters in Keeripatti, Papapatti, Nattamangalam is 252 (out of 1,550 votes), 276 (1,142) and 347 (1,600).

No nomination was received for the reserved panchayat of Kottakatchiyendal in Narikudi union of Virudhunagar district. Dalit votes in the three villages under the local body, Poovakani, Kottakatchiyendal and Kanayamarichan, is just 17, against the total number of 1,155 votes.

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