THE Election Commission has enforced stringent measures to curb use of money power in the current round of assembly elections in states, especially in Tamil Nadu, where there has been wide spread attempts to bribe voters by paying them cash.
Challenging State
Chief Minister M Karunanidhi strongly criticised the EC saying that an undeclared emergency is in vogue in Tamil Nadu and wondered whether he was still continuing as the Chief Minister of the state. DMK and PMK have charged the Election Commission that it has imposed emergency in the state. They have criticised the EC as it is over restrictive and harassing the political parties.
Calling Tamil Nadu a “challenging state” the Election Commission has said, “the criticism is totally unfair and therefore it should be dismissed. We can’t be faulted for discharging our constitutional responsibilities sincerely and earnestly.”
Strong Measures
In Tamil Nadu all opposition parties were making complaints again and again that the money power during the by-elections in the last four years and also in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections were not curbed. Hence, the opposition parties in Tamil Nadu wanted more stringent measures.
Stung by repeated criticism, the EC called for a series of meetings of top officials and retired officers before the current assembly elections and evolved a workable solution to curb money power. Detailed expenditure guidelines for candidates were evolved by the Commission, video surveillance on campaigning by candidates and political parties, flying squads in each constituency, mobile check posts with police officials and maintenance of shadow accounts of expenditures by observers were some of the steps taken by the EC. These efforts have helped to prevent the free flow of money to a great extent.
As a new measure, the Income Tax Department was roped in to check the cash flow. The department conducted 57 searches and 38 surveys throughout the state and unearthed unaccounted cash to the tune of Rs 15 crore. In Madurai alone, 10 teams of income tax personnel were on duty. Night patrolling was intensified and cash and goods worth Rs 46 crore were seized. The EC had obviously got its act together even before the notification of elections. It effected transfers of four collectors and six police officials and changed the administrative team, the Collector, the Superintendent of Police in Madurai, where the clout of Karunanidhi’s son M K Azhagiri was very powerful in derailing the law and order situation.
Crores of currency notes and silk sarees
SY Qureshi, the Chief Election Commissioner predicted the possible malpractices in advance. Even before polls to the five states assemblies were notified, the CEC had felt that just as ‘violence’ would pose the big challenge in West Bengal, in Tamil Nadu it would be money power.
Election Commission has instructed the officials to act independently and judiciously. An inspector of police in Dindigul, stopped the convoy of GK Vasan, senior Congress leader because it had more than the permitted four cars. The inspector who stopped the Congress leader convoy said he would have to be answerable to the Election Commission if he allowed them. Towards the final stage of polling, a woman official, a revenue division officer, got a call in the dead of night at around 1 am about money transported in a bus. She immediately set out, with her driver and a couple of police inspectors and the money was found in five bags on top of a bus adding upto Rs five crore. In Thiruchengodu, near Erode, thousands of silk sarees were confiscated before distribution.
