Chennai

Within hours of the announcement, the makeshift offices of the political parties were deserted. Traffic moved freely on the arterial roads in the constituency giving a big relief to the residents. 

All the district level functionaries, who had come to monitor election works, were seen leaving the constituency. The election vehicles also moved out of the area. 

“Finally, the entire North Chennai is limping back to normalcy. The volume of vehicles has taken a dip from Monday morning,” said A Kanagaraj, a resident of Jeeva Nagar. But, he added that the commotion would soon return anyway. 

K Thangammal of Ezhil Nagar complained, “After the by-election campaign started here, I saw new faces from various political parties who indulged in petty fights. Such acts annoyed us day and night. Moreover, our roads were narrow and the vehicles on campaign shrunk them further.” 

“At last the entire commotion came to a halt,” the residents said heaving a sigh of relief. “I was questioned by the police personnel every time I stepped out. It was a trouble proving my identity,” K Velusamy of RK Nagar said and added “Relief, at last.”

However, the EC’s decision came as a shock to the shop owners in the segment. “Many supporters used to visit our tea stall and the sales were brisk in the past one month. But, on Monday morning there were only a few customers,” rued K Sakthivel, a worker in a tea stall in Tondaiyarpet. 

Independent candidates staged a protest condemning the EC. MS Arumugam, an independent, told DTNext “We have gone around the constituency in the scorching sun. But, everything went in vain.”

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