Madurai Central MLA P.T.R.P. Thiagarajan on Wednesday said that conducting parliamentary elections in the temple city during Chithirai festival was virtually impossible.
Addressing media here, Thiagarajan, under whose constituency the Meenakshi temple falls, said he would approach the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court to implead himself in a PIL case already being heard on the issue.
The polling date of April 18, announced by the Election Commission, falls on the day of car festival of Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple and Lord Kallazhagar’s Ethir Sevai , which attracts lakhs of people from many districts to Madurai city. The date is also preceded by the celestial wedding at Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple on April 17 and followed by Lord Kallazhagar’s entry into the Vaigai on April 19.
Mr. Thiagarajan said no amount of mitigation measures taken by the district administration would ensure smooth conduct of polling without any impact on the voter turnout.
“If for the sake of argument, we agree that extending the polling time till late in the evening can help voters in Madurai, what about those coming from other places for the festival? How do officials expect them to vote,” he asked.
Stating problems were aplenty, he said: “For instance, how will voters access polling booths on Veli Streets, which will be a sea of people during the car festival. The district administration cannot shift the polling booths as per its wish since the locations are already decided following due process and a variety of factors.”
There was the even risk of anti-social elements making use of the crowd and loopholes in security arrangement to commit unlawful activities that could affect the people and the polling.
Pollachi case
Mr. Thiagarajan also came down heavily on the State government and the police, mainly Superintendent of Police of Coimbatore R. Pandiarajan, for what he termed as incompetent, insensitive and partisan manner in which the Pollachi sexual abuse case was being handled.
