CHENNAI: A voter of Villupuram district approached the Madras High Court on Wednesday seeking orders to remove the names of bogus voters from the rolls for the local body polls. He further alleged that some genuine names were deliberately left out of the rolls while names of ineligible voters, including students, were included in order to boost the winning prospects of a particular candidate.
S Tamilarasan, a resident of Echankuppam in Villupuram district, filed a writ petition before the court in this regard. Another petition, filed by G Sathiyaseelan of Pulivalam village in Ranipet district, sought an order to reject the nomination of a candidate – AK Premnath – contesting for the post of president of Pulivalam village panchayat in the second phase of the polls. The petitioner claimed that Premnath is a converted Christian and does not come under the category of Scheduled Castes.
However, he had furnished false address and a fake community certificate to show he is an SC. Government Pleader P Muthukumar, representing the poll authorities, stated that the outcome of the poll can be challenged, in case, the said candidate wins the elections.
Directing the petitioners to approach the state election commission, the judges disposed of the petitions. They noted that an order regarding the local body polls in Tamil Nadu was already issued by the court.
AIADMK alleges poll irregularities
AIADMK former minister D Jayakumar alleged of many irregularities during the polls held on Wednesday.
The minister said, “In many poll booths, the AIADMK agents were not permitted on time, and some of them didn’t get proper booth agent recognition letters. Some of our booth agents were also threatened by the ruling party members.” Jayakumar also complained about the lack of web cameras in poll booths.