The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Polling stations out of bounds for State police

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 27, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Polling stations out of bounds for State police

Sundar S.

Paramilitary personnel did not allow them to enter booths

ON GUARD: An armed paramilitary personnel outside a polling booth in Thathaneri during the byelection to the Madurai West constituency on Tuesday.

MADURAI: Polling stations were out of bounds for the State police personnel in the byelection to the Madurai West Assembly constituency on Tuesday.

They were not allowed within the 100-metre mark from the polling stations.

Paramilitary personnel, who virtually took over the stations, did not even allow sleuths of intelligence wings of State police to enter polling stations, leave alone the booths.

The intelligence personnel were at the mercy of polling agents and mobile squads of Revenue officials to collect details of polling.

So strict were the paramiliatary personnel that one of them objected to the personal security officer of a Poll Observer entering the booths. The Observer had to intervene and request for an exemption to his gunman.

“This is what the Election Commission has instructed us,” said one of them, guarding a polling station housed at the Sethupathi Pandithurai Corporation Higher Secondary School.

The State police were asked to maintain law and order on the outer periphery. Even the Revenue Inspector and Village Administrative Officers on election duty were restricted from entering the booths. The paramilitary personnel allowed the voters into the polling stations only after verifying their documents. The Election Commission had rejected the production of ration cards, issued by the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation, as a valid proof of identity.

The presence of paramilitary personnel also made the agents of independent candidates feel “safe” and they were under no pressure from the agents of leading political parties.

“The security personnel entered the booths even on hearing a mild noise and regulated polling,” said one of the agents at Thiru.Vi.Ka. Corporation Higher Secondary School.

The strong posse of armed personal not only kept mischief-mongers away from the booths, but also emboldened the voters, especially women, to turn out in large numbers to exercise their franchise.

Their presence also nullified apprehensions of violence expressed by political parties and Tuesday was like any other day. With an exclusive communication network among themselves, the commanders of paramilitary forces were able to keep a watch over all the booths.

On its part, the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam had deployed a number of videographers near the polling booths where they expected untoward incidents.

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