THOOTHUKUDI: Ottapidaram union deputy chairman Kasi Viswanathan lands in trouble after he voted from ward 3 of Thoothukudi corporation in urban local body polls.
The AIADMK youth wing secretary of Ottapidaram east union Muthumariappan of Kurukkusalai said Kasi Viswanathan had his vote in Kurukkusalai village part 47 when he contested forward 10 of the Ottapidaram union during rural body election held in 2020.
Muthumariappan was defeated by Kasi Viswanathan in ward 10 (5000 votes) during the rural body election and Viswanathan went on to become the deputy chairman of the union as well. However, Viswanathan removed his vote from the Ottapidaram constituency and added it to the Thoothukudi constituency. He was found registering his vote at SDA school in the Thoothukudi corporation area in the recent urban local body election, he said.
Muthumariappan argued that anyone could contest in union wards only if they have a vote in the union concerned. "Once the vote is removed from the union, how would the elected member continue as elected representative," he questioned.
A senior election official told TNIE that the candidates should have their vote in the particular ward and shall be proposed by another voter who has voted in the same ward. "The hard and fast rule does not control him post-election, which means he need not mandatorily continue as a voter of the same ward," he clarified.