The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : `Dissolve House before demanding Lok Sabha poll annulment'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 11, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

`Dissolve House before demanding Lok Sabha poll annulment'

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, FEB. 10. The Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, can set a precedent by dissolving the Assembly and hold fresh election before demanding annulment of the May 2004 Lok Sabha poll in the State, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president, M. Karunanidhi, said today.

Reacting to the Chief Minister's statement that the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam would move the Supreme Court as she was of the view that the whole election process in the State was "rigged," Mr. Karunanidhi told newsmen here, "let her do it for Tamil Nadu first." He said all political parties were aware of the time limit for filing an election petition.

`Against norms'

The DMK president came down on the Government for creating an impression that the delimitation of Assembly constituencies was almost over though the Delimitation Commission clearly stated that it had not even started the preliminary work.

The Chief Minister announced in the Assembly that the Government had not interfered with the delimitation process. But tahsildars in their offices displayed maps of new constituencies with the signatures of Collectors and tahsildars as if the work had been completed, Mr. Karunanidhi said. They had taken taluks as the basis for delimitation, which was against the Commission's norms. This, he said, could not have been done without the knowledge of the Government.

Mr. Karunanidhi said the DMK had directed all district secretaries to prepare the maps of constituencies which they considered fair and submit them to the party on February 18 or 19. The party representatives would hand over the maps to the Commission.

The former Minister, K. Ponmudi, who is the DMK representative in the Commission, said that when the party brought the State's action to its attention, the Commission replied that no decision was taken in Tamil Nadu.

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