Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Farcical exercise

The description of the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission as toothless in the editorial "Farcical exercise" (Oct. 18) is apt. It also seemed to be eyeless and earless on the day of the elections to the Chennai Corporation Council. As for the police, the less said the better. Their action was not just non-intervention but abdication of duty.

R.V. Chandramouli,
Chennai

That all ruling parties indulge in electoral malpractices that include booth-capture, bogus voting, and intimidation of voters and poll personnel in local body elections is well known. In Chennai, the ruling DMK crossed all limits. So much so that even its allies were provoked into protesting the manner in which the elections were conducted. The Election Commission of India should be empowered to send observers to monitor municipal elections too, particularly when they are held Statewide.

R.T. Narayanan,
Chennai

The irregularities witnessed in the elections are a shame on our democratic set-up. Many citizens stayed indoors out of fear. As pointed out in the editorial, the happenings during the 2001 and 2006 local body elections have necessitated the appointment of an impartial body on the lines of the Election Commission of India.

M.N. Srinivasan,
Vellore

The happenings were a blot on Tamil Nadu's democratic values and law and order administration. The physical violence between DMK and AIADMK cadres exposed the tactics political parties employ to capture votes that are not their own, and shamed the common man.

A. Soosaiya,
Nagercoil, T.N.

The editorial is frank and to the point. Besides neutral umpires, we also need to have an autonomous police force if elections to the local bodies are to be free and fair.

K.D. Viswanaathan,
Coimbatore

Elections are meant to empower the best among us to lead us. But today, they have become a show of strength and muscle power. At times, the country gives us enough reason to decide on military rule as the best form of governance. The manner in which the Chennai Corporation elections were held is an example.

Vidya Panicker,
Cherthalla, Kerala

The Madras High Court has done well to halt the lumpenisation of the local electoral system by inducing the authority concerned to apply corrective measures before counting the votes. The need for a neutral authority under the CEC, to maintain and ensure free and fair elections to the local bodies, cannot be over-emphasised.

Kasim Sait,
Chennai

Police inaction during poll-related violence is a matter of grave concern. The erosion of democratic values is slow but sure.

K. Jaishankar,
Chennai

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