COIMBATORE: Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) members on Monday staged a road roko on the Salem-Kochi NH at the Pattanampudur junction in Coimbatore against the alleged distribution of cash to voters by the DMK in the Sulur Assembly constituency.
According to sources, TVK workers gathered in front of a house at Pattanampudur, claiming that cash was being distributed on behalf of Thalapathi Murugesan, the DMK candidate.
The protest led by TVK's Sulur candidate N M Sukumar, the cadres alleged that the election flying squad officials failed to act on their complaint of Rs 2,000 being distributed to each voter. During their protest at the NH, a car suspected of carrying cash and voter lists was intercepted, and the driver suddenly reversed the vehicle in an attempt to escape. A TVK worker was injured after the car ran over his leg, and this led to a confrontation between the DMK and TVK cadres.
Sulur police rushed to the spot and dispersed the protesters after nearly half an hour, and the traffic was severely disrupted.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, social activist V Eswaran, president of the Marumalarchi Makkal Iyakkam, submitted a petition to the district election officer demanding the cancellation of elections in all 10 Assembly constituencies in Coimbatore over alleged cash distribution by both the DMK and the AIADMK.
In his petition, he alleged that the DMK had distributed between Rs 1,000 and Rs 5,000 per voter, and the AIADMK was distributing Rs 1,000 per voter.