Election Commission failed to curb cash flow, says Anbumani

May 21, 2016 12:00 am | Updated September 12, 2016 07:41 pm IST - CHENNAI:

Anbumani Ramadoss.— Photo: B.Jothi Ramalingam

Anbumani Ramadoss.— Photo: B.Jothi Ramalingam

PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss, on Friday, said he would take up the issue of electoral reforms in the Parliament and urged the Election Commission of India to seek tougher electoral laws to curb the menace of cash.

Speaking to reporters here, Dr. Anbumani, who led his party’s election campaign and failed to win a seat, claimed that both the DMK and the AIADMK “drowned” the State with money and had bribed voters in every constituency.

He charged that the Election Commission was “toothless” and remained a passive spectator.

Citing the postponement of polls in Aravakurichi and Thanjavur, where large-scale bribing of voters was detected, he said the candidates who indulged in the irregularities, should have been disqualified.

“The laws should be amended in such a way that if a party is found to have distributed cash across constituencies, all its candidates should be disqualified. Unless this happens, the menace of cash in elections would remain,” he added.

On the party’s weak performance outside the Vanniyar-dominated northern and western districts, he said this was the first time the PMK contested so many seats in the southern region.

Third largest party

“The voters have made us the third largest party despite the vicious campaign that we are a party of a (particular) community,” he added.

Seeks disqualification of candidates who bribe voters; to

take up issue in Parliament

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.