The Madras High Court direction postponing the local body elections in the UT has sent cheers to the ruling AINRC.
There are good chances of elections getting postponed for atleast six months as the High Court has not set any time limit for the government to complete the delimitation of wards.The delimitation will begin only after the enumeration of backward classes that has to be done within two months.
The delimitation process is not expected to be completed before the Parliamentary elections. Once parliamentary polls are notified,the ongoing process of delimitation will be suspended as the government machinery will be engaged with the election work.
The process will be resumed only after the entire election gets over. Only after the Parliamentary polls are over,the civic polls can take place. Under these circumstances, the civic polls are unlikely to happen before six months.
The Opposition parties have blamed Chief minister N Rangasamy for the postponement of elections.Congress,AIADMK and DMK criticised the AINRC and termed its action as a ‘murder of democracy’.
These parties have been preparing briskly for the polls by getting inclination letters along with fee for contesting the elections. The aspirants from these parties are desolate as their hopes have been dashed for the time being. Moreover, the Opposition parties saw good opportunity to do well by capitalising on the growing unpopularity of the ruling party.
The parties, especially the Congress and DMK, have also wasted a lot of time and money in conducting meetings for the polls.
The same is true with the SEC, that has been working for conducting the polls for the past 10 days.
From pin to ballot boxes, purchase orders have been issued, said State Election Commissioner Uddipta Ray. Though he could not give the financial implication, it will amount to some crores. “We will try to cancel these orders if possible,” said Ray.
The poll process and enforcement of the model code of conduct has also affected cracker manufacturers after their manufacturing units were closed down.
Closure of liquor shops by 10 pm has also put a dent in state excise revenue, considering the period being the best for filling the coffers. Now they can heave a sigh of relief.