Huge deployment of police personnel for the Tirupparankundram Assembly constituency here on Sunday made it largely free from any untoward incidents.
Of the 297 polling booths in the constituency, 163 polling booths in 44 locations came within Madurai city police limits while the remaining 134 booths in 62 locations were under Madurai rural police limits.
More than 3,500 police personnel and personnel from Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) were deployed across the constituency, officials said.
This is in contrast with the parliamentary elections during which there was acute shortage of police personnel since it coincided with the Chithiral festival in Madurai, which required significant deployment of police. During the parliamentary elections in Madurai, ex-servicemen had to be used in few booths in lieu of police personnel.
S. Davidson Devasirvatham, Commissioner of Police, Madurai City, said that the police was in a position to deploy one officer in the rank of Sub Inspector (SI) or Special Sub Inspector for every polling station along with constables.
“In locations with more number of booths, we had an Inspector of Police,” he said, adding that CAPF personnel were deployed in all locations.
N. Manivannan, Superintendent of Police, Madurai, said that almost the entire strength used during the parliamentary election was deployed in one Assembly constituency. “We had 1,750 personnel, including two Additional Superintendents of Police, 14 Deputy Superintendents of Police, and 40 Inspectors,” he said. “This helped us in ensuring smooth conduct of the election,” he added.
Apart from the polling stations, the 200 metre and 100 metre boundaries from polling stations also had significant police presence. The restrictions mandated by Election Commission of India at these boundaries were fairly well-enforced unlike during the parliamentary elections last month.
However, a minor scuffle broke out between DMK and AIADMK cadre near the booth in Thanakkankulam. The DMK cadre alleged that AIADMK cadres from outside the district, who must have vacated the constituency by Friday, were present near polling booths.
P. Panju, a DMK cadre, blamed the police for failing to evict them from the spot despite complaints. Soon, police personnel vacated everyone from the spot apart from the minimal number of party cadre who can be present outside the 200 metre mark to assist voters.
Basic amenities
In few polling booths, lack of basic amenities, mainly drinking water, was seen. Similarly, volunteers from National Service Scheme (NSS), who were deployed in all polling locations during parliament election, to assist physically challenged voters were not used during the byelection.Police personnel or family members had to help the physically challenged and elderly persons with wheelchairs.
Ballot unit
DMK candidate P. Saravanan complained that in some polling booths the ballot units were arranged in the wrong manner. With 37 candidates in the fray, each polling booth had three ballot units since each unit can accommodate only 16 candidates. “My name is on the top of the list. The ballot units must be arranged as per the list of candidates prepared by Returning Officer with the first 16 appearing on the first ballot unit. However, in some of the booths, the third ballot unit was placed on the left most side, followed by second and then first. This might have confused some voters,” he said.
