TENKASI: Congress candidate and sitting MLA S Palani Nadar was declared winner of Tenkasi assembly constituency once again after postal votes were recounted on Thursday as per the direction of the Madras High Court. He defeated AIADMK candidate Selva Mohandas Pandian by 373 votes.
The staff of the counting centre, led by the returning officer-cum-revenue divisional officer Lavanya, recounted 2,971 votes polled in the Tenkasi assembly constituency in 2021 under the supervision of District Election Officercum- Collector Durai Ravichandran.
“In 2021, Palani was declared to have won by 370 votes. With the addition of three more postal votes during the recounting on Thursday, the victory margin increased to 373,” Lavanya said. A total of 82 postal votes, which were not counted in 2021 owing to lack of signature on form 13C, have also been counted now. “Palani and Pandian secured 36 and 31 votes respectively. In total, Palani got 1,642 postal votes and Pandian 704. The number of rejected postal votes is 316,” she added. The recounting was stopped briefly twice after confusion due to verification of outer covers and declaration forms for postal votes.
Justice Ramachandran ordered vote recount on July 5
AIADMK representatives registered their opposition over the attestation of postal votes by gazetted officers of lower rank. Reporters were not allowed inside the recounting centre and security was beefed up around the centre as Congress and AIADMK workers gathered in strength in front of the centre.
A brief quarrel broke out between advocates and police personnel when cops tried to check some lawyers who were visiting their association office located on the premises. On July 5, Justice Jayachandran ordered recounting of postal votes based on a petition filed by Pandian. The AIADMK candidate had submitted that the returning officer had violated various rules in counting of postal votes.
