Ruling AIADMK set to sweep
BJP mayor candidate for Tirunelveli G.P.R. Vellaimmal posing with her family after joining AIADMK on Friday in presence of CM Jayalalithaa. Her husband Ganesaperumal Raja who was the state secretary of the BJP traders wing also joined AIADMK. (
Chennai: Byelections to the local bodies in the state would normally cause no ripples. But this year’s poll campaign for Thursday’s elections assumed some serious overtones. The two ruling parties at the state and the Centre, AIADMK and BJP – drew further apart after the bitterness of the summer’s general elections for the Lok Sabha seemed to fade away as the relations between the top leaders improved dramatically. The AIADMK, which appears way ahead, is set to dominate the polls.
The talking point in the unusually high-decibel campaign was the series of attacks fired by AIADMK supremo and Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa on the BJP. She accused the saffron party of double standards on the sensitive fishermen issue and on the older problem of the sharing of Cauvery waters with Karnatka.
A member of the Modi cabinet, Pon Radhakrishnan, went to the extent of demanding that the State Election Commission (SEC) scrap the polls alleging irregularities during the campaign. His party had suffered a setback when its candidate for the Tirunelveli mayoral election, G.P.R. Vellaiammal, withdrew from the race and subsequently joined the AIADMK.
On Sunday, in a new political twist, BJP state president Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan urged the Congress and DMK to support BJP candidates in the byelections being held for about 530 posts, including those of Mayor of Coimbatore and Tuticorin Corporations.
The DMK and the Congress are boycotting the poll while the BJP is contesting with the support of its allies - DMDK, MDMK, PMK, IJK and KMDK.
As is standard procedure now, poll proceedings in sensitive booths would be videographed. The election commission has declared a paid holiday on Thursday in those areas facing byelections to rural and urban local bodies. Liquor shops have been asked to remain shut from 5 pm on Tuesday till 5 pm on Thursday.
In case booth slips could not be distributed, voters should carry any one of the photo identity cards - EPIC, passport, driving licence, PAN card etc. for casting votes. The by-elections are being held for about 530 posts including the posts of Mayor of Coimbatore and Tuticorin Corporations.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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