VILLUPURAM: The auction of local body posts is outright denial of the right to vote and must be dealt with strictly by the State Election Commission (SEC), said Villupuram MP Ravikumar on Monday, after complaints of auction at Ponnankuppam village here surfaced last week.
Subsequent to the complaints, District Election Officer (DEO) and Collector D Mohan inspected the village on September 18 (Saturday) and warned the villagers against auctioning the posts. Collector Mohan told TNIE: “There is no evidence of the auction, but a probe is on.”
While that’s what the DEO claims, villagers from Ponnankuppam alleged that another auction for the post of panchayat councilor was held on Saturday night for Rs 20.8 lakh. A 40-years-old resident from the village told TNIE: “This auction was expensive and bid by a retired school headmaster; it’s the councilors who select block chairman. So, the post has high demand.”
MP Ravikumar said: “These also entail caste oppression in terms of denial of the right to choose the leader/vote at rural levels, as only the community with higher representation gets the chance to choose the person in power.”