As DMK President Kalaignar alleged that the Election Commission rushed to announce the by-election for a position which has become vacant only on May 17, compared to the time taken by the Commission to announce by-election for the Srirangam Assembly seat when it became vacant after Jayalalitha was disqualified after she was convicted in the case last year, the very announcement of the by-election for R.K. Nagar Assembly constituency was shrouded in controversy of undue favouritism. At that time, while the seat became vacant on September 27, 2014, the by-poll was announced only on January 12, 2015.
The Assembly seat fell vacant with the resignation of sitting ADMK member P Vetrivel resigned on May 24, a Sunday when the Assembly office in the Secretariat was kept open on a holiday and the Assembly Secretary was present in the office to receive the resignation letter and immediately notified the vacancy and advised to the Chief Electoral Officer in Tamil Nadu. The same Assembly Secretary took months to notify the vacancy for Srirangam constituency. On its turn, the Election Commission of India hurried through and announced the by-election on May 26 said the poll notification would be issued on June 3 and June 10 would be the last day for filing of nominations. Counting of votes will be on June 30.
Earlier, Jayalalitha was elected from Srirangam constituency but lost her seat and the Chief Minister position after a trial court in Bangalore convicted her for four years jail term and Rs 100 crore fine in the disproportionate assets case. Recently the Karnataka High Court in a controversial verdict upheld her appeal and acquitted her of all charges.
Following that, Jayalalitha became the Chief Minister on May 23. She has to get elected to the assembly within six months from the date of being sworn in as the Chief Minister.
The hurry with which all these developments took place very clearly indicated that they wanted to set a smooth sail for Jayalalitha’s reentry in to the Assembly. She assumed office on May 23, the sitting ruling party MLA resigns without giving any reason the very next day, a holiday and the resignation accepted and notified instantly on the same day May 24. Two days later on May 26, the Election Commission announces the by-poll. That it will be a farce became clear even at the outset.
Now with the Election Commission also openly on their side, the usually haughty ADMK started to brazenly flouted and violated all democratic election rules and regulations at will and pleasure.
As the constituency is within the city limits of Chennai, both the State and Municipal Corporation machineries were pressed into full swing for the smooth sailing of Jayalalitha in the by-election right from the day of filing her nomination papers.
Though announcement of new projects and regular implementation of government schemes have to be stopped in R.K. Nagar constituency due to the model code of conduct coming into force from the day of notification of the by-election, the ADMK government and the Corporation authorities administered by the ruling party care too hoots for it.
On June 6, ‘The Times of India’ reported under the heading, ‘Jayalalitha’s day out brings north Chennai to halt on sunny afternoon’ that, “It was a scene that conveyed a story. Two burly men in safari suits -both from the special protection group (SPG) -running with a special chair in R K Nagar.
It captured the drama as Chief Minister Jayalalitha visited the civic corporation’s zonal office in Tondiarpet on Jun 5 to file her poll nomination papers.
It was a task that took less than five minutes, but north Chennai came to a standstill for hours. “Both sides of Tiruvottiyur High Road were blocked. I was at Toll Gate in an MTC bus at 1.20pm and the bus crew informed us that the bus would not move till 3pm. I got off and walked to a friend’s place,” said a commuter B Nisha. “On the way back, I took the train,” she added.
Police officials estimated that a crowd of more than 50,000 had gathered around the office to greet Jayalalitha. “We had to post 600 men on the road to manage the crowd,” said an officer from the law and order wing of Chennai police. While some thronged the office, others took to nearby streets to celebrate. They danced and sang. One of them dressed up as MGR walked around waving the victory symbol”.
‘The Hindu’ reported: “The gleaming tarred roads, with some stretches remaining sticky on Friday due to the fresh coats of tar, surprised residents of the under-developed locality, once the city’s trade hub. “The entire road was laid yesterday. Many of the speed breakers in the area have been levelled. This kind of swiftness in civic work is very rare, that too in this part of the city,” said an autorickshaw driver, a long-time resident of Old Washermenpet, who drives in and around north Chennai.
Hours ahead of Jayalalitha’s visit to the constituency on Friday, traffic bottlenecks developed around Royapuram and Old Washermenpet. Police blocked vehicle entry to certain arterial roads in the area and diverted traffic to smaller lanes”, (causing enormous difficulties and inconvenience to people)”.
With photographs Tamil dailies reported that the Corporation zonal office, where the office of the Returning Officer was shifted to ground floor from the first floor and the whole premises was painted in green; the Electricity Board office on the way was also painted green to suit the ‘uhÁ’ (good luck) of her. As barricades were erected on either side of Tiruvotriyur High Road in Tondiarpet for several km for several hours, people had to bend down their torso to cross the roads causing great difficulty particularly for women.
The photographs of a ‘special chair’ for Jayalalitha being carried by four safari-clad security personnel to the election office and they keeping on sweeping with broomstick the yellow and red carpet laid in front of the office for her to step out of her vehicle and take few steps, were noted with disgust.
On May 30, ‘The Hindu’ reported with photograph: “Digging work to lay water pipelines in Korukkupet falling under the R.K.Nagar constituency, where a by-poll will be held on June 27 from where Chief Minister Jayalalitha will contest, has raised questions as there is the model code of conduct in place.
On Friday (May 29), workers were involved in digging and laying drinking water pipelines in areas such as Anna Nagar, Moopanar Nagar, Nehru Nagar and Ajees Nagar in R.K. Nagar constituency, prompting Opposition parties to raise doubts over the effectiveness of the code. Residents of the area have been complaining of erratic piped water supply for a few months now. At present, drinking water is being supplied through tankers to many of the divisions in Tondiarpet zone. Several parts of the area have not been receiving proper piped water supply for over two months now, said Aravind. J, a resident of Korukkupet. “This digging work to replace old pipelines is being carried out on various streets since a week now,” he said.
T. Siva, a resident of the area said, “In ordinary days when peoples approach the officials with their grievances, nobody is ready to answer. Whereas during the by-poll, the officials concerned will address the grievances of the public voluntarily even if the demands were not put up. This is the difference”.
Elected representatives in the zone noted this followed complaints of the residents about damaged network and poor water supply in the zone for several months”.
‘The Times of India’ reported on Jun 8, “Chennai Corporation is taking up patchworks on roads, besides regular conservancy activities. Such activities are exceptional, as it is concerned with the daily life of the public, officials say. The patchwork on road cuts is currently being done on Theniamman Koil Street, P.H. Road and Ennore High Road. “In addition to regular conservancy work that includes garbage clearing and sweeping, work on clearing wastes in the campaign areas has been intensified throughout the day,” says a corporation official. Because, those areas will see more public gather leaving behind used water and food leftover at the end of the day, he said.
However, some roads including TH Road and Cemetery Road in the constituency were re-laid and lights were changed a week before the visit by Jayalalitha to the Tondiarpet Zonal Office to file her nomination for the by-election. The pavements were also made good and the structure got a fresh coat of paint”.
When the residents of Nehru Nagar in the constituency resorted to picketing of artillery road on June 5 for drinking water to 10 streets in the locality, the ruling party functionaries and authorities immediately rushed to the area and arranged supply by water tanker lorries.
Almost all major political parties in the State have decided to boycott the by-election mainly because it is farce under ADMK dispensation and not to dissipate their energy when the Assembly general elections are due to be held in few more months. Even otherwise, Jayalalitha has announced a 50-member army including all the 28 Ministers to invade the constituency armed with bundles of currency; ably assisted by compliant bureaucracy and police force, abetted by the silent spectator, Election Commission. They might be planning to ensure 100 percent polling in favour of Jayalalitha in the by-poll.
Is there any need for evidence to show that this by-election is a farce? 14 June 2015
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