CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Tuesday refused to dismiss an election petition filed by DMDK’s Vijaya Prabhakaran, son of late party leader Vijayakant, challenging the election of Congress MP Manickam Tagore from the Virudhunagar Lok Sabha constituency in 2024.
Justice N Sathish Kumar dismissed a plea filed by Tagore seeking to strike out certain allegations in the petition and reject the case at the threshold, ruling that the disputed issues must be tried based on documents and evidence. The judge directed Tagore to face the proceedings and adjourned the matter to July 9.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Tagore won the Virudhunagar seat by a margin of 4,379 votes, securing 3,85,256 votes against Prabhakaran’s 3,80,877. A senior Congress leader serving his third term as MP (having won in 2009, 2019 and 2024), Tagore serves as the party’s whip in Parliament and is a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee.
Prabhakaran moved the court seeking to declare Tagore’s 2024 victory null and void, alleging suppression of material facts in the nomination papers and corrupt practices. He also sought a recount of postal votes, including rejected ones, and votes recorded in EVMs, alleging that Tagore used unfair means to secure victory. Tagore countered that the allegations were baseless and scandalous, terming the petition an abuse of the legal process.