Saffron party into election mode distributes forms for civic bypolls
MDMK general secretary Vaiko presenting a shawl to the newly elected state BJP president Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan at his party office Thayagam in Chennai on Tuesday. (Photo:DC/File)
Chennai:With Vaiko’s MDMK opting out of the race and extending total support to the BJP and ‘Captain’ Vijayakanth’s DMDK indicating that it would also support the BJP, the saffron party here is likely to contest the byelection to local bodies with the support of NDA allies.
The party went into poll mode already and commenced the process of distributing A, B and C forms for its party members. BJP is likely to contest from about 30 places in Kanyakumari district alone where BJP senior and Union minister of sta-te for heavy industries Pon Radhakrishnan got elected as MP.
Incidentally, this will be the first election to be faced by Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan as state chief and she has a huge responsibility of steering the party to victory. The saffron party has begun projecting itself as “an alternative force” in the state and it strongly believes that the 100 days impressive achievement of the PM Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre would come handy in taking the election campaign to a new high.
The opposition DMK had decided to boycott the bypoll citing paucity of time in selecting candidates and PMK is yet to make its stand known. The ruling AIADMK is way ahead of all political parties in gearing up for the elections and it had already announced its candidates. If this is any indication, the BJP will end up taking on the AIADMK in most of the posts of mayors and municipal chairmen.
“The Modi government has ensured GDP growth and economic turnaround within 100 days of coming to power. This and many other achievements including the PM Jan Dhan Yojana, will put us on a comfortable position in the bypolls,” Dr Tamilisai who led the “one hundred days achievement” celebrations at Kamalalayam on Tuesday evening, told DC.
Party vice-president M. Chakravarthy says the BJP government has created history in 100 days and it had achieved what the Congress failed during its rule. “People are talking about the good work of Mr Modi,” he pointed out.
Poll code: No projects, meetings:
The State Election Commission (SEC) has cancelled more than half a dozen-government functions where the model code of conduct has come into effect due to the local body bypolls scheduled in mid-September.
“The commission had also cancelled the scheduled weekly public grievances usually chaired by the district collectors. There will not be grievance meetings in Coimbatore, Tiruneveli and Thoothukudi corporation areas where mayoral elections are to be held,” state election commissioner S. Aiyyar said.
All districts where mayoral bypolls are announced cannot commence any new projects or conduct government functions. Details of the model code have already been communicated to the respective district collectors and local body officials.
Any development work or project that could effect and influence voters will be a violation of the model code and in case of any violation, people can contact the EC for action. Voters should participate in the ensuing elections and all steps are underway to ensure a free and fair polls, the state election commissioner stressed.
However, official sources said that the model code will not affect administration and would be lifted by the last week of this month. “Tenders other than global bids that are already floated may be evaluated but not finalised without prior approval of the SEC,” a city corporation official said.
( Source : dc )
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