ERODE/CHENNAI: Naam Tamilar Katchi candidate in the Erode East by-election, Maneka Navaneethan, on Friday complained to Returning Officer K Sivakumar that the police were unnecessarily disrupting her campaign.
In her complaint to Sivakumar, she said despite the party having permission, the police took 40 members who were involved in the campaign for questioning on Friday morning. “When asked, the police claimed they campaigned without obtaining proper permission.
The DMK and AIADMK parties did not get permission from anywhere. But the police department is not taking any action. Appropriate action should be taken against police officials who obstruct our campaign and the party members should be released,” she demanded.
Meanwhile, sources said the police detained a few members of the NTK during their campaign in Sampath Nagar as they argued with the policemen. “The police stopped the party saying they had not obtained proper permission to campaign there. This led to an argument and police took some members of the party for questioning,” they added.
Meanwhile, the NTK also urged the Election Commission of India in New Delhi to immediately arrest DMK and AIADMK men for violating election code of conduct and indulging in violence in the constituency. They also urged the commission to transfer the police personnel who are aiding the ruling DMK.
The NTK representatives told reporters that they came to meet election commission officials in New Delhi as the chief electoral officer in Chennai did not take any action on their complaints. They said Deputy Election Commissioner, Ajay Bhadoo, had promised to direct the Tamil Nadu CEO to act on their complaint immediately.