In a late night order on Sunday the Election Commission cancelled the byelection to the R.K. Nagar constituency in North Chennai, which had fallen vacant after Jayalalithaa’s death. The EC argued that systematic bribery of voters had vitiated the atmosphere to such an extent that free and fair poll was not possible in the constituency.
“The Commission is fully satisfied that the current electoral process in the said 11-Dr.Radhakrishnan Nagar Assembly Constituency in Tamil Nadu has been seriously vitiated on account of unlawful activities of the candidates and political parties and their workers by bribing the electors and unlawfully inducing them by offering money and other gifts of consumable items to woo them in their favour,” it said in a detailed 29 page order.
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TTV Dinakaran, Sasikala’s nephew representing the AIADMK (Amma) and former Minister E. Madhusoodhanan (AIADMK PT Amma) were locked in a bitter battle to establish who the real AIADMK was even as the DMK candidate Marudhu Ganesh had nosed ahead due to the split in the AIADMK.
But what got the EC’s goat was the massive deployment of money power by the Sasikala group distributing money and gifts to voters in the constituency in a planned and systematic manner. Though the EC had replaced most top police and revenue officials and engaged hundreds of central government forces to monitor and check movement of vehicles, it was unable to prevent the Sasikala group from distributing Rs.4,000 per voter.
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The tipping point was the April 7 income tax raids on Health Minister C. Vijaya Bhaskar’s official residence in Chennai and 12 other places belonging to him and his associates that unearthed Rs.5 crores in cash. More damning was the seizure of an incriminating document that showed that the Minister had distributed Rs.89 crores among top Ministers and functionaries including the Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami for further distribution among various segments in R.K. Nagar to reach the voters.
“In the Commission’s considered opinion, allowing the current electoral process to proceed and conduct the poll in the constituency on 12th April, 2016, as scheduled, in such vitiated atmosphere would severely jeopardize the conduct of free and fair election in the said 11-Dr.Radhakrishnan Nagar Assembly Constituency. Earlier also, in similar circumstances, the Commission was constrained to rescind the elections from 134-Aravakurichi and 174-Thanjavur Assembly Constituencies, in Tamil Nadu at the general election to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly in May, 2016,” the EC pointed out.
The cancellation would come a severe blow to the Dinakaran camp having spent so much energy and money to make its presence felt swimming against a tide of popular resentment. Dinakaran had planned to take over as Chief Minister once he got elected as MLA but that move now goes into cold storage. The next few days would also see the income tax department summoning and questioning of Vijayabhaskar and probably other Ministers found in his list to know about the source of the funds and where exactly the money went.
The cancellation also puts a black mark on Tamil Nadu’s electoral record as the state has now perfected the art of cash for votes during successive elections, particularly in byelections. With three elections cancelled within a span of one year for bribing voters, the EC now needs to show greater resolve and come up with more effective ways to combat this menace.
