Though campaign by political parties for the by-election to the Yercaud Assembly Constituency concluded at 5 p.m. on Monday, party cadres were seen campaigning for their respective candidates while polling was under way on Wednesday.
CampaignThere were charges of cadres of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) campaigning outside the polling booths.
An AIADMK man brought a cardboard model of the electronic voting machine and kept indicating to voters to press the topmost button against which the name of party candidate P. Saroja was mentioned. This happened outside the polling station near the candidate’s house at Papanayakanpatti.
Cadres of both the parties flashed their party symbols (two fingers for the AIADMK’s two leaves and all the five fingers spread out to indicate the DMK’s rising sun). District Collector and District Electoral Officer K. Maharabushanam, who had warned of stringent action against all these forms of campaign beyond the Monday 5 p.m. deadline, said on Wednesday that what happened near the polling stations were violations of the Model Code of Conduct.
Appropriate action would be taken, he said.
