Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

Vaiko votes amid high drama and tight security

By Radha Venkatesan

Chief Minister Jayalalithaa voting in the Presidential election at the Secretariat in Chennai on Monday.

CHENNAI July 15. Amid tight security, the jailed MDMK leader, Vaiko, and seven other MPs from Tamil Nadu, besides 234 MLAs, cast their votes in the presidential poll held in the State Secretariat complex here today.

As the polling began at 10 a.m sharp, the Speaker, K.Kalimuthu, turned up first to cast his ballot. Within a few minutes, a long queue of State Ministers and MLAs appeared at the booth adjoining the Assembly.

By 12 noon, as many as 196 of the 242 voters including the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, and the Tamil Maanila Congress president, G.K.Vasan, cast their votes. Around 12.45 a.m, the DMK president, M. Karunanidhi, arrived along with his party MLAs.

But, the dramatic moment was the arrival of Mr.Vaiko in a police van from Vellore at 2.30 p.m. Seconds after the MDMK's Union Minister of State, Ginjee Ramachandran, drove in, the van carrying the jailed VVIP swept in even as the police threw a security wrap round the Secretariat complex.

But a few excited lensmen broke free of the security cordon and rushed towards the van to click pictures of Mr. Vaiko. However, senior police officers gave a chase and pushed the photographers back.

Nonplussed by the drama, a pale looking Mr. Vaiko listlessly ambled into the booth. The spring in his steps was missing and so was the queer shrug of his shoulders. Court curbs forced the vocal MDMK leader into a mournful silence.

As he pushed the pink ballot paper into the box, Mr. Vaiko gave a weary smile to the waiting lensmen. And, with folded hands, he got into the police van for an arduous journey back to the Vellore prison.

The last voter at the booth was the BJP MLA, Jagaveerapandian, who turned up just half-hour before the polling ended at 5 p.m. The Assembly Secretary, V.Rajaraman, who is the Assistant Returning Officer, said the ballot box would be taken to New Delhi tomorrow for counting.

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