Tamil Nadu Governor K. Rosaiah on Thursday wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner “recommending the conduct of the elections to Thanjavur and Aravakurichi (Assembly) constituencies as early as possible preferably before June 1 in public interest and in the interest of all the concerned (sic) parties.”
A late night official release from Raj Bhavan said the Governor’s decision followed a meeting he held with the Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer on May 23 over representations received from ruling AIADMK candidates V. Senthil Balaji (Aravakurichi) and M. Rengasamy (Thanjavur) in the constituencies.
“The CEO submitted a report of the Election Commission of India on May 24,” said the release.
The Election Commission of India had deferred the polls in these two constituencies following evidence of large-scale bribery of voters by the AIADMK in both the constituencies and the DMK in Aravakurichi. Petitions filed by the PMK and BJP candidates seeking postponement of elections in the two seats are pending in the Madras High Court.
According to the Raj Bhavan release, the two AIADMK candidates had called on Mr. Rosaiah on May 22 and submitted a representation claiming that the ECI had deferred polls in the constituencies without any authority of law and without the consent of the Governor.
The candidates contended that “the alleged corrupt practices relied upon by the ECI to defer the elections can be tested before a court of law”, but deferring of the polls will shorten the tenure of the member who may be elected.
After considering their representations and the detailed report of the ECI “in the light of the relevant provisions contained in the Representation of People Act, 1951 and the Constitution of India” as well as the Supreme Court’s judgment in Bhim Singh Vs ECI and ECI Vs State of Haryana, the Governor made the said recommendation to conduct early polls.
The Governor, the release said, also took into account the fact that postponing the polls in these two constituencies “will deprive the statutory rights of the members elected from these two constituencies to vote in the ensuing election to the Rajya Sabha.”
