TN civic polls: Oppn complains of faulty EVMs,booth-capturing

The Opposition parties,including the DMK,alleged several irregularities in the first phase of the local body elections that was held.

The Opposition parties,including the DMK,alleged several irregularities in the first phase of the local body elections that was held on Monday. The second and last phase is scheduled for Wednesday.

Right from the time polling began at 7 am,there were complaints of names being deleted from the voters list and EVMs not functioning properly. But what irked the Opposition most was that the State Election Commission failed to comply with the Madras High Courts order to install web cameras at polling booths.

DMK leader and former deputy chief minister M K Stalin said his party would approach the Chief Justice of the High Court on the issue. Raising similar complaints,PMK leaders demanded repolls in some places.

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There were allegations that goons owing allegiance to the ruling party captured booths in the absence of strong police presence at several places across the state.

The run-up to the local body elections and the polling itself were rather subdued. While neither AIADMK and DMK have significant allies,the only significant alliance is between the principal opposition party,the DMDK,and the Left,though their combined strength against the ruling party remains to be proved.

In the first phase,10 corporations,60 municipalities,259 town panchayats and 191 village panchayats went for polling on Monday. Among these,Chennai corporation is the crown jewel with all parties heavyweights. From the ruling party,senior leader Saidai Duraisamy,a former minister who posed a stiff challenge to Stalin in the last Assembly polls,is the candidate for the post of Chennai mayor. The DMK has fielded sitting mayor M Subramanian and former MoS A K Moorthi is PMKs candidate.

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