In a move which could be described as an anti-climax to the ensuing poll fever in Thiruvarur Assembly constituency, the Election Commission of India by a late night order on Sunday rescinded the by-election it had scheduled in the constituency for January 28. The bypoll was necessitated by the demise of M Karunanidhi, the former president of the DMK who had been representing the constituency in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.
The ECI had announced on January 3 that the bypoll at Thiruvarur would be held on January 28 and the result announced on January 31. But the order issued by the ECI on Sunday said the poll has been rescinded following representations from various sources pointing out that the bypoll works would come in the way of the relief and resettlement operations necessitated by Cyclone Gaja which had devastated the constituency in the month of November.
“Chief secretary, Tamil Nadu, in her letter dated 3-12-2018 apprised the Commission regarding Cyclone Gaja, mentioning that it devastated the delta district and severely affected 12 districts in the State. The cyclone caused extensive damage to the standing , agriculture, horticulture crops and livelihood of people in these 12 districts. In the light of letter received from Chief Secretary, the Commission vide its letter dated December 28, 2018, requested the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, to give its views in the matter,” said the order issued by the ECI on Sunday.
It also stated that D Raja, national secretary of the CPI too had asked the Commission to postpone the bypoll in the backdrop of the cyclone which had devastated the 12 districts. An all-party meeting convened by the district electoral officer, Thiruvarur on Sunday was of the unanimous view that the bypoll should be postponed since it would affect the relief and rehabilitation measures in the constituency and elsewhere in the affected regions. Hence the election Commission of India has declared as null and void all the steps taken till now by the authorities and also announced that the bypoll would be held as and when it was convinced that the situation was conducive to holding the poll.
The DMK and the AMMK had already declared their candidates for the bypoll while the ruling AIADMK was in the process of finalising its candidate.
MK Stalin, DMK president was the first political leader in the State to welcome the decision of the ECI. In a release he thanked the Commission to postpone the bypoll and asked it to hold the same to all the 20 Assembly constituencies along with the Parliament election.