Will April 12 by-poll go the Thanjai, Aravakurichi way?

During May 16 elections, polling was postponed in these two segments due to unbridled use of money. 

At RK Nagar constituency, till date I-T teams have seized Rs 5 crore from searches conducted in 30 places across the state and Rs 2.20 crore from a close friend of state health minister C Vijaya Baskar. But I-T officials revealed that Rs 89 crore was earmarked for 85 per cent voters in the constituency at Rs 4000 per vote. The names of state ministers KA Sengottayan, D Jayakumar, P Thangamani and SP Velumani too figure in the documents seized by the I-T. 

The constituency has 25 flying squads, 70 micro observer teams in addition to static observer teams and 10 general and expenditure observers. A special electoral officer has been deputed for RK Nagar constituency, all of which are firsts for any by-poll nationally. And all this for a constituency with only 7 wards, whereas Thanjavur constituency comprised 51 wards. The situation at RK Nagar is more precarious than that at Thanjavur and Aravakurichi constituencies where polls were deferred due to large-scale seizure of money and bribing of voters by all leading parties. 

Compared to RK Nagar, Thanjavur and Aravakurichi each had only 2 video observer teams (VST), 3 static surveillance teams and 6 flying squads. This number was later doubled on April 29 in Thanjavur and finally totalled 58 teams on May 11. The EC regretted that only Rs 21 lakh was seized during the actual campaign. 

At Arvakurichi, 112 complaints of money being used to bribe voters was received, 7 FIRs were filed and 429 liquor bottles were seized. PMK candidate Baskaran in a complaint on May 14 stated that AIADMK candidate Balaji distributed Rs 2,000 per vote and DMK’s KC Palanisamy Rs 1,000 per vote, the ante going up to Rs 3,000 per vote by both a few days later. 

The same conditions now exist in RK Nagar. Political parties have demanded postponement of polls, while the I-T department has stated it has sent a report to New Delhi. So, all are waiting for the EC’s reaction.