THENI: Five independent candidates on Monday submitted a petition to the Election Commission (EC) requesting it to conduct repoll at Andipatti assembly segment, claiming that the election was not held in a fair manner.
The candidates — Vaigai Pandian, Balakrishan, Alagarsamy, Kandukaran, and Sivalingam — submitted the petition before the District Election Officer (DEO), claiming that several leading political parties distributed money to voters. Officials had seized Rs 1.48 crore from the office of a political party in Andipatti, and on April 16, police opened fire when a gang attempted to prevent police officials from executing their duty.
Though the EC had fixed `28 lakh expenditure limit, several politicians spend more than this by distributing cash to voters, the petitioners alleged. They also requested the EC to either disqualify three candidates belonging to leading political parties or conduct a repoll in Andipatti.
Petition for stationing of Central forces
Dharmapuri: DMK candidate for Pappireddipatti Lok Sabha constituency, S Senthilkumar, filed a petition with Collector and District Election Officer S Malarvizhi, seeking additional security in the form of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and paramilitary forces at the eight booths awaiting repolling.