Cancellation of RK Nagar by-poll is a blot, not only on the Tamil Nadu politicians but also on the pollsters, who vitiated the system
Venkatesan TS from Chennai
In the annals of the Tamil Nadu state elections, constituencies like Thirumangalam (Madurai), RK Nagar in Chennai will be remembered for ever. In both
the constituencies, cash, gifts were distributed despite the watchful eyes of poll observers. It is disgrace to the Tamil Nadu and state of politics. As far as RK Nagar is
concerned, Election Commission (EC) had no option but to cancel the poll following complaints of unprecedented
malpractices- especially of money distribution, allegedly by all the candidates. Of this, the charge against TT Dinakaran, nephew of VK Sasikala and candidate of the faction AIADMK (Amma) topped the list.
Last year (2016), the EC had ordered cancellation of polls in Thanjavur and Aravakurichi constituencies after both AIADMK and DMK were found bribing voters. The RK Nagar by-poll is significant for both AIADMK (OPS) and AIADMK (Sasikala) as the seat was earlier represented by former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who represented it for two terms.
In RK Nagar, the by-poll was necessitated following the death of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on December 5 after over 74 days of hospitalisation. Her death still shrouded in mystery.
Coming close on the heels of slew of complaints of model code violation, misuse of official machinery, cash and gifts to garner votes by opponents, the EC ordered transfer of 22 police officials, including two IPS officers, out of R K Nagar. It may be recalled that documents pertaining to details of money distribution to the tune of Rs 89 crore were recovered by Income tax officials during raids on Vijayabaskar. In RK Nagar, 61 flying squads were pressed into service. A total of 277 people in 61 teams operating round the clock vigil and to enforce the provisions of model code of conduct. The income tax raids on Health Minister C Vijayabaskar and actor-turned-politician Sarath Kumar on April 7 were seen as an indication to the inevitable things to follow. Prior to raid, Sarath Kumar had extended his
support to Dhinakaran. Vijayabaskar is one of the most vocal critics of Panneerselvam and a staunch Sasikala
loyalist. The IT raids expectedly prevented any plan to go in for the next round of distribution of money, gifts over the weekend. Not that the other parties were not distributing money. Their plan reportedly is to go in for targeted bribing which means paying money only to select 60,000-odd voters who they think will certainly vote for them.
The places IT wing raided also included properties of the state Health Minister C Vijayabaskar. The income tax department reportedly raided 35 places and seized various documents. As per the report, a key document recovered from the Minister’s house contained the
strategy details of the party in RK Nagar. The strategy document said that party will distribute an amount Rs 4,000 per voter across 256
segments of the constituency. The target was to reach out 85 per cent of the 2.6 lakh voters. The entire sum to be paid amounted to Rs 89 crore.
Documents unearthed from TN Minister’s house
suggested that he had spent over Rs 27 crore among the
voters in the constituency. The names of 6 Ministers of the State Cabinet and Chief Minister E Palaniswamy were also mentioned in the document and they had reportedly
distributed money to voters. On April 9 evening, it was clear that the Election Commission might decide to scrap the crucial RK Nagar by-poll in Tamil Nadu after Income Tax department raid revealed rampant corruption and bribery to swing the election. As expected, the EC, late on April 9 night, cancelled the by-election to the RK Nagar constituency in Chennai, based on evidence of large scale bribing of voters by the ruling AIADMK (Amma) among other parties and candidates. EC took the decision to cancel the poll mainly in the backdrop of IT raids at the residential and business premises of Vijaya Baskar.
The 29-page order elaborated on the various measures the commission took to prevent bribing of voters and the
various newer modes of voter bribing it came across from prepaid phone recharge coupons to mobile wallet payments. “Some of the States have particularly excelled in innovating more and more subtle ways to circumvent the statutory
provisions enacted by Parliament to curb the menace of money power in elections. The top leaderships of the parties cannot feign ignorance about such illegal activities”, it pointed out.
“The entire 90 crore, as per the records seized by us, was routed through six State Ministers and a Rajya Sabha MP to the people down below in their party (AIADMK (Amma) faction) to distribute among the RK Nagar voters. We may have to summon all of them for questioning to probe the money trail”, said an IT department official.
Tamil Nadu is not new to a rainfall of goodies at
election time. In 2003, sarees, utensils and cash were distributed in Sathankulam in Tuticorin
district and the ruling AIADMK won the by-poll. In 2009, the DMK returned the compliment with what is now infamously known as the “Thirumangalam Formula”. With the active
guidance of DMK Chief M Karunanidhi”s son MK Alagiri, money was put in an envelope along with the DMK sign and attached to the newspaper on the morning of the election. DMK won the election. “The ‘Thirumangalam Formula’ was only a poor cousin of the ‘Periyakulam’ and ‘Andipatti
formula’ that the preceding AIADMK rulers had mastered in their time. T T V Dinakaran, was the architect and executor of those formulae. He himself had won from Periyakulam. Besides these, there were Saidapet and Gummidipudi Assembly by-elections, among others, that the AIADMK had won as ruling party using the same methods”, said a
veteran journalist.
Hours after the EC of India rescinded RK Nagar by poll; TTV Dinakaran claimed that the EC did not want him to win. Deeming the decision to cancel by-poll wrong, he said that the EC cannot deny an election to the constituency. “The EC’s decision is wrong. Even the EC doesn’t want me to win. They can delay an election but they cannot deny the same,” said Dinakaran.
BJP state president Tamil Isai Soundararajan welcomed the EC’s decision to cancel the by-poll. She said, “If the EC had cancelled this in the beginning stage, time and money would have been saved”.
The DMK urged EC to order a CBI probe based on
documents seized from Vijayabaskar’s residence and
elsewhere. The PMK, meanwhile, demanded the Centre to dismiss the Edapadi Palaniswami government. Karti Chidambaram, who heads non-political outfit G67, said it was a shame that votes were being sold and democracy belittled.
The EC’s decision to put off the by poll made voters of this segment happy. They are hoping for another bonanza when the new by-poll schedule will be made. The Dravidian party legacy has done more disrepute and harm than good deeds in these years.
The by poll has to be held within six months of its falling vacant. Secondly, all vacancies should be filled before the Presidential Election which is due in July. So in all
probabilities, the countermanded RK Nagar by-poll can be held in May end this year. n
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