The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Election panel's vigil pays

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 15, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Election panel's vigil pays

K.T. Sangameswaran & S. Dorairaj

77 detained, cars carrying voters confiscated

PARTYMEN FLEE: Suspected outsiders owing allegiance to the AIADMK running away from the Election office at Keezhmudhalampedu in Gummidipoondi constituency on seeing the Special Election Observer, K.J. Rao's convoy. — Photo: V. Ganesan

K.T. Sangameswaran

& S. Dorairaj

CHENNAI: Polling in the byelection for the Gummidipoondi Assembly constituency passed off peacefully, thanks to the vigil maintained by the poll personnel as directed by the Election Commission (EC).

The EC's Special Observer, K.J. Rao, who visited several polling stations and villages, personally supervised the poll arrangements.

Barring a few places, including Manjankaranai, polling was brisk with electors forming queues from 7 a.m. In Kannigaiper and Periapalayam, the polling process was delayed due to technical problems in the electronic voting machines. However, the problems were attended to immediately. In some places, Mr. Rao asked the Returning Officer (R.O.) to post additional polling officers to avoid delay.

But the polling was not totally incident-free. During the dawn to dusk operation, Mr. Rao urged the party activists to avoid over-crowding at the makeshift bunks to issue booth slips, remove hoardings, flags and festoons put up by them at public places and instructed the police to keep a vigil on feasts arranged by party workers.

Confiscated

Mr. Rao asked authorities to confiscate the vehicle passes of L. Loganathan, R. Venkataesan and E. Marimuthu (Independents), for allowing their vehicles to transport campaign materials of registered political parties.

He pulled out a DMK flag and booth slips from the vehicle of G. Srinivasan, the chief election agent for Mr. Loganathan at Perandur and asked authorities to impound his vehicle. Police detained a total of 17 vehicles in Gummidipoondi.

The vehicles were detained at Vengal, Periyapalayam, Uthukottai and Kavarapet for allegedly carrying unauthorised persons and for transporting voters, said the Tiruvallur District Superintendent of Police, V. Varadaraju.

Detained

Altogether 77 persons — 51 of the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, 25 Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and one of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam were detained as these persons were "unauthorised persons in the constituency and who were likely to create trouble". Those detained included Sivaji, DMK district secretary. They were released in the evening, the police said. The police said that polling in the constituency started on a brisk note from the beginning and It picked up as the day wore on. Initially, the number of women voters in booths starting from Puduvoyal was less and it increased gradually.

Lighter moments

Mr. Rao's `operation vigil' also had lighter moments. While proceeding towards Uthukottai from Periapalayam, he stopped a car at Thandalam and enquired about the purpose of the travellers' visit to the area.

As the persons in the vehicle told him that they were returning from Tirupathi, he asked them some proof. One of them in the car, offered Mr. Rao, the famous `laddu' prasadam of the shrine on the Seven Hills. All in smiles, he allowed them to proceed.

"Polling is going on peacefully in all the polling stations that I have visited. We have not received any major complaints," he said.

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