LS polls in Vellore cancelled due to use of money power

New Delhi/Chennai: Polling in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore Lok Sabha constituency has been cancelled, the Election Commission said Tuesday, after Rs 11.5 crore in cash was allegedly seized from a warehouse belonging to a DMK candidate earlier this month.

This is the first time that Lok Sabha polls to a constituency have been cancelled over alleged use of cash for bribing voters. So far, over Rs 500 crore have been seized from Tamil Nadu with Rs 205 crore in cash and the rest in gold.

The EC notification on Tuesday said in the commission’s considered opinion conducting polls in Vellore in such a vitiated atmosphere would “severely jeopardise the conduct of free and fair election.”

Hence, the commission recommended cancelling the polls to the government which was accepted and poll for Vellore seat was annulled.

“Accepting the recommendation of the Election Commission dated 14th April 2019, President has rescinded the election to Vellore parliamentary constituency, Tamil Nadu,” the EC said in a statement.

President Ram Nath Kovind issued the order rescinding the polls by amending portions of the original poll notification that called the electorate in Vellore to elect a member to the Lok Sabha.

Vellore was to go to polls on Thursday, along with 38 other seats of Tamil Nadu as part of the second phase of general elections. Twenty-three candidates are contesting for the Vellore constituency.

The cancellation of the poll evoked sharp reactions from the DMK which alleged it was an attempt by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “besmirch” the party using the Election Commission.

“It is a murder of democracy. Modi has planned to wreck the polls by allegedly misusing the Enforcement Directorate, CBI, income tax and the Election Commission,” DMK president M.K. Stalin told reporters in Tiruchirappalli.

The DMK said that they will challenge the decision to cancel polls.

The EC took the decision after the district police had filed a complaint against DM Kathir Anand as well as two party functionaries on the basis of a report from the income tax department on April 10.

Mr Anand is the son of senior party leader Durai Murugan.

On March 30, Income Tax officials had conducted searches at Mr Durai Murugan’s residence over suspected use of unaccounted money for electioneering, and seized Rs 10.50 lakh in alleged “excess” cash. Mr Durai Murugan, however, said that he had not concealed anything. Questioning the timing of the income tax department’s operation, he alleged that the raids were a “conspiracy” by certain political leaders who could not face them in the electoral arena.

Two days later, the income tax officials claimed to have seized Rs 11.53 crore from a cement godown belonging to a DMK leader’s associate in the same district. According to tax officials, they had seized evidences from the premises showing how the cash was bundled ward wise to bribe the voters.

Mr Anand was charged under the Representation of the People Act for giving “wrong information” in his election affidavit filed along with his nomination papers, the police said. The other two, identified as Srinivasan and Damodaran, were booked under bribery charges.

In 2017, the Election Commission had postponed the by-election for the RK Nagar Assembly constituency after complaints of large-scale bribing of voters.

Ruling AIADMK demanded that Mr Anand be disqualified from contesting the poll instead of cancelling the election.

“Cash stuffed in cartons and gunny bags neatly packed for ward and division-wise distribution were unearthed,”officials had said.

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