Madurai students rally for free, fair polls

Madurai Collector K Veera Raghav Rao inaugurated a rally as part of the initiative here on Tuesday in front of a park in Harveypatti in Tiruparankundram constituency. Before the commencement of the rally students were administered a pledge that they would vote ethically in the election and they will not take money from the candidates and also advice their family members and friends to do so.

The students carrying placards containing awareness messages on voting and participating in a free and fair manner in the elections proceeded through various street to the National Highways and ended the rally there. They also played trumpets to gain attention of the constituency people on the way.

Addressing the media after the rally, the Collector said that the programmes were conducted to make people vote in large numbers and to ensure free and fair elections in the seat. He also said that strict measures would be taken to prevent distribution of money for votes by anyone. Action would also be taken on voters if they accepted money. The offence may result in an imprisonment up to one year, he warned.

The participants of the voter awareness rally were made to wait for two hours on the spot before the commencement of the programme. Nearly 300 students assembled well before 9 am at the spot. The organisers kept saying that the Collector was on his way. 

But the Collector reached full two hours later for the programme. The only consoling factor in the long wait for the Collector’s arrival was that the students were made to sit under the trees in the park.

A senior citizen participating in the rally quipped that Udayachandran was the only Madurai Collector who stuck to time. “Whenever an event gets delayed and if Udayachandran had to participate in another event, he would ask the officials present to go ahead with the programme as per schedule,” he said. It was a pleasant surprise that Madurai people were able to recollect a Collector’s punctuality even 10 years after he severed the district.