Tamil Nadu   

Yercaud turns `sanctuary' for winning candidates

R. Ilangovan

SALEM: The hill station of Yercaud near here is bustling with tourists who have come to enjoy its salubrious climate and scenic beauty during the festival season.

But, this time round, it has also attracted visitors who prefer to remain indoors. These are the winning candidates of various parties and Independents of town panchayats, panchayat unions and municipalities in Salem and other districts in the western zone.

`Poaching' threat

Some of them are from far off districts such as Villupuram. A few parties have `interned' their winning candidates here, guarding them from `poaching.' They hold the key to the indirect elections that will elect presidents and chairmen of civic bodies on October 28.

Most vulnerable are candidates of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Pattali Makkal Katchi and the Desiya Murpokku Dravidar Kazhagam. They have been `crossing over' from the AIADMK to the DMK and the PMK and the DMDK to the AIADMK. While the DMDK has asked its winners to stay indoors, the PMK, particularly in Dharmapuri, has whisked away its winners to Yercaud.

The Independents are the toast of all parties. "We are bearing their entire expenditure as they will decide the chairmanship," says a party functionary from Omalur, where the DMK and the AIADMK are vying for the chairman's post.

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