The Elections Department is planning to register a case against the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam for making elaborate arrangements for Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s campaign over 24 hours before her arrival, a department official told The Hindu . However, the department would take a final decision after consulting the Election Commission, he said.
Other political parties have complained to the department about the AIADMK making arrangements much earlier than what is allowed. Flying squads have video-graphed the arrangements made to be submitted as evidence. The EC would be adding the additional expense of unpaid rent to the Port authority to AIADMK candidate Omalingam’s election expenditure, the official said.
According to orders issued by the Election Commission, arrangements for any political campaign should begin only 12 hours before the start of the campaign and be removed within five hours of its completion. The work for Ms. Jayalalithaa’s campaign started about a week ago. The department has already included the cost of laying the helipad and the road to the election expenses of Mr. Omalingam. It would also be adding the cost of renting the ground for six days. So far, the party has only paid Rs. 35,000 as rent for three days starting from March 25, the official said.
So far, there has been a number of campaigns in Tamil Nadu where arrangements had taken a day or two to complete. But, no case had been registered there. Therefore, the Puducherry Elections Department would consult the Election Commission before taking a decision, the official said. Senior CPI (M) member T. Murugan said that the Left parties had taken up the issue with the Elections Department, but were yet to get a response. According to a senior DMK leader, the party would study the Election Commission’s instructions before lodging a complaint. If there was a violation, the DMK would definitely register a complaint.
