CHENNAI: N Maruthu ganesh, who was the DMK candidate for the rescinded April 12 by-election to RK Nagar Assembly constituency, on Saturday urged the Election Commission not to issue notification for a fresh bypoll to the constituency without prosecuting the ‘offenders’ named in the Income Tax (I-T) Department’s report for allegedly trying to bribe the electorate. The bypoll was cancelled by Election Commission (EC) on charges of large-scale distribution of money and other allurements to voters.
Ganesh said if the EC failed to take action, he would be constrained to initiate legal proceedings seeking a remedy.
In a petition sent to the full bench of the EC, Ganesh cited the circumstances under which the April 12 bypoll was rescinded after the I-T Department raided the premises of Health Minister C Vijaya Basker on April 8. The I-T Department found incriminating documents indicating that the “responsibility” of distributing money to voters was reportedly vested with many in the State Cabinet, he said.
“Till today, the EC has not been able to even register a complaint against the persons who were indicted by I-T Department in its report dated April 8, which was the basis for the commission to cancel the bypoll. The question on everyone’s mind is why have the Chief Electoral Officer of TN and the Returning Officer of RK Nagar defied the EC’s directions in this regard?” Ganesh said.
Stating that he had spent `5 lakh for canvassing in the bypoll, Ganesh said he was entitled to compensation from EC since it was apparent from the conduct of the EC that it was not serious in prosecuting offenders. “The buck must certainly stop with the EC and it must take moral and constitutional responsibility for its inaction against the offenders and for depriving a constituency of an elected representative for six months,” he said.