Chennai: The filing of nominations for the much-awaited byelection to the high profile RK Nagar Assembly constituency scheduled for December 21 will begin on Monday with the election commission set to issue a formal notification in this regard.
While the DMK has already announced Maruthu Ganesh as its candidate, the ruling AIADMK will meet on Monday to select its candidate. The dissident AIADMK faction leader TTV Dhinakaran has also announced that he will contest in the bypoll. With some other major parties in the state are mulling over weighing-in, the bypoll is set to become a multi-corner contest.
The state election department had set up Chennai corporation’s Tondiarpet zonal office as the seat of the returning officer and candidates would file their nomination papers there. K. Veluchami, joint director of Adidravida Welfare Department has been posted as the returning officer and Tondiarpet tahsildar S. Murugesan and special tahsildar R. Subramanian have been named as assistant returning officers. The election commission also appointed Manipur cadre IPS officer Immanuel K. Muiva as law and order observer for the byelection.
While announcing the schedule for the byelections on Friday, which was cancelled in April due to the rampant use of money power, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said votes polled in the December 21 elections would be counted on December 24, which falls on a Sunday. While the filing of nominations will begin on November 27 and go on till December 4, scrutiny will be held on December 5 and last date for withdrawal of nominations would be December 7, ECI said.
Former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa had contested successfully from RK Nagar constituency twice— in 2015 and 2016. The demise of the AIADMK supremo triggered a churning within the party and the state, as it saw two Chief Ministers within one year. The bypolls are expected to serve as the acid test for the AIADMK and the government headed by Edappadi K. Palaniswami and O. Panneerselvam, as victory will help them to strengthen their hold on both.
The bypoll in RK Nagar previously scheduled for April 12, 2017 was cancelled by the ECI following a report by the Income-Tax department that documents seized during searches at the premises of an accountant of health minister C. Vijayabhaskar showed that Rs 89 crore was channelled to RK Nagar through party functionaries.
More eyes on RK nagar as cops add 100 CCTV cameras
Elections in the RK Nagar constituency are due again and this time the city police are leaving no stone unturned as far as security measures are concerned. According to a senior police officer, over 100 CCTV cameras with live streaming facility will be installed in the constituency and the footage from the same can be accessed in real time on the gadgets of senior police officers.
Any untoward incident can be monitored and handled swiftly and effectively with use of this system. “The footage from the cameras can be streamed and viewed within minutes on our mobile phones or tablets or laptops through special software”, said R. Sudhakar, Joint Commissioner of Police (North).
Apart from the digital cover, eleven check-posts with drop gate facility have also been installed in the constituency for vehicle checks. Police have picked up 135 persons as part of preventive detention and have issued notices to 29 licensed gun owners in the constituency to deposit their firearms with the police.
Areas in RK Nagar constituency fall under eight police station limits. Each station will be helmed by three inspectors who would be pooled in from other parts of the city. At present, four static surveillance teams with personnel from police and revenue departments, three flying squads and two video surveillance teams are working round the clock in the constituency, according to the police.
