CHENNAI: Representatives of many political parties in Tamil Nadu on Monday expressed concern over the long gap between polling and counting in the state and urged Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo to reduce this gap. Giving up the idea of introducing postal ballot facilities for 80-plus voters and stringent measures for checking cash for votes were some of the issues raised by political parties during the all-party meeting convened by the CEO.
Pollachi V Jayaraman of the AIADMK said the EC should make clear what steps are being taken to prevent 80-plus voters who vote from their residences from not coming to the polling booths too. The changes, if any, done in the nomination forms, Form A and Form B, should be intimated to political parties. He said the CEO assured that a special campaign would be conducted for two days to issue identity cards to the new voters. The CEO also said arrangements have been made for voters to download the voter identity cards online.
RS Bharathi (DMK) said, “During the last Assembly elections, Rs 570 crore was seized in container lorries. A CBI inquiry was ordered into this but nothing has been found so far. Similarly, no action has been taken regarding the distribution of Rs 89 crore in the RK Nagar by-election.” He alleged that many officials were being transferred by issuing backdated orders. This should be checked immediately. Similarly, backdated orders were being issued for the appointment of office-bearers. Issue of these orders should be stopped immediately, he said.
“In Bihar, postal ballots were misused to capture power. In Tamil Nadu, DMK MLA R Appavu was defeated over postal ballots and the case is pending in court till now. So, there are possibilities for shortcomings in the postal ballots for 80-plus voters. So, the system should not be introduced in Tamil Nadu,” Bharathi added.
He also pointed out that the long gap between the polling and counting dates in Tamil Nadu was unnecessary now though it was agreeable during the parliamentary elections. “The political situation among the five states going for polls is entirely different. A uniform counting date for parliamentary elections is understandable. But now it is unnecessary and this will give room for irregularities,” he said. Further, now it is being reported that the counting will be taking place at a common location in all districts. This should also make the process difficult, he said.
NCP state president GP Sarathy wondered why the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections have been fixed so early. Why are elections being held in West Bengal in the last phase where the law and order situation is not satisfactory and why has Tamil Nadu been chosen for the first phase where the law and order situation is satisfactory, he asked. For about one month, EVMs have to be protected and political parties should also keep vigil over them, he added.
Santhosh Kumar, the advocate, representing the DMDK, said so far, FIRs have been filed regarding cash for votes. But the status of these cases filed during the past elections is not known. The EC should clarify whether any punishment has been awarded or any candidate been disqualified in this regard. People should not be affected while the flying squads check the vehicles. The lookalike symbols of the Murasu symbol of the DMDK should be barred for this election to avoid confusion, he added.
SK Nawaz of Congress said a separate queue for senior citizens should be allowed during the polling. Nominations of persons with criminal backgrounds should be rejected at the first stage itself (while accepting them), he said.
Balachandran and Paul Kanaraj of the BJP said, “There is a rule that the criminal antecedents of the candidates should be publicized through newspapers and television channels. There is no use in publishing them in newspapers that have very little circulation and channels that have lesser viewership. So, the EC should clarify this.”
All India Trinamool Congress representative Kalaivanan too demanded that the gap between the polling and counting be reduced drastically in Tamil Nadu. Veerapandian of the CPI said election rules should be implemented without any bias for all -- whether it is the Prime Minister or Union Home Minister. In Bihar, the EC rules were violated and similar violations should not be allowed in Tamil Nadu, he said.