CHENNAI: Verification of the electronic voting machines (EVMs), control units (CUs) and voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) units used in 14 polling stations in the Kolathur Assembly constituency, commenced on Wednesday, where DMK president and former chief minister M K Stalin was defeated by TVK candidate V S Babu by a margin of 8,795 votes.
An official said following the announcement of the results of the Assembly elections, a petition was submitted by Stalin before the Election Commission of India (ECI) on May 7, seeking verification and authentication of the EVM burnt memory/microcontroller of 14 polling stations in Kolathur constituency in connection with the said election results.
Selected by the candidate, these 14 booths represent 5% of the 286 polling stations in Kolathur Assembly constituency. The total votes polled in the 14 booths came to 10,174.
The verification process was conducted at the EVM warehouse at Chintadripet, Chennai, in the presence of Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner G S Sameeran, who is also the Chennai district election officer (DEO), and representatives of candidates, including the DMK and the TVK.
Addressing media persons, Sameeran said the ballot unit, control unit and VVPAT will be verified for seven days. A similar exercise is going on in Kancheepuram and Virudhunagar districts in two constituencies.
Court refuses probe into non-disclosure of trust property by DMK prez
Chennai: The Madras High Court on Wednesday refused to order an inquiry against DMK president and former chief minister M K Stalin for alleged non-disclosure of assets of a trust, in which he is a permanent managing trustee, in the affidavit accompanying his nomination papers for the 2026 Assembly polls. “No material is placed in the petition to show he (Stalin) has got interest in the property acquired by the trust,” the court said. The petition alleged that Stalin had suppressed the details of a Rs 2.27 crore property acquired by the DMK Charitable Trust in affidavit
