Political and administrative uncertainty stares at Tamil Nadu following the late Sunday night decision by the Election Commission of India to countermand the by-election to the RK Nagar Assembly seat scheduled for April 12.
The commission’s decision to countermand the bypoll was based on reports submitted by the special observers deputed by the commission and details furnished by the Income Tax Department on the raids and seizure of money and documents pointing to large scale distribution of cash to bribe the voters.
The local media is full of reports about a document allegedly leaked from the Income Tax officials which states that an amount of Rs89 crore meant for distribution in the constituency was routed through Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy and members of his Council of Ministers.
“Though AIADMK (Amma) presidium chairman KA Sengottaiyan has issued a statement refuting the charges, it is not convincing,” said N Kalyanasundaram, political commentator.
The ECI decision to cancel the by-election has come as a major setback for the AIADMK (Amma) Government ruling the State. In a 29-page order it issued on late Sunday night, the commission stated that the search and seizure by the Income Tax authorities at the residences of Health Minister C Vijayabhaskar and others had resulted in unravelling a huge and systematic design to distribute money to voters in order to bribe them to influence their voting behaviour.
The commission has said in its order that the decision to rescind the bypoll was necessitated after the findings of various observers deputed by the commission and the details furnished by the Income Tax Department about the kind of money and documents seized during the raids.
“The Income Tax authorities have also informed that recently several complaints were received indicating that Dr C Vijaya Baskar is the main person involved in bribing the voters in RK Nagar Assembly constituency. Some loose sheets were found with his accountant Srinivasan indicating distribution of Rs89 crore to a number of politicians for further distribution among the voters. The premises of Rajendran were also searched after receiving information from a Central agency that a huge amount of cash was brought there in a particular vehicle for distribution in RK Nagar Constituency,” said the ECI order.
Kalyanasundaram said the current situation reminded him about the chaotic days immediately after the death of AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran which ultimately led to the imposition of President’s rule in Tamil Nadu. “The Election Commission’s statement that it could not prevent the flow of money despite deploying 61 surveillance teams instead of the routine six teams is proof that the law and order in Tamil Nadu has broken completely,” he said.
While the ECI report is as good as a chargesheet against the AIADMK(Amma), it is by and large silent about AIADMK (PTA) and the DMK.