Tension prevailed in Paparambakkam village of Kadambathur block after a mob damaged a ballot box and set fire to ballot papers during the rural local body elections in Tiruvallur district on Friday.
Officials said the Paparambakkam village booth has never been sensitive. The booth, at a school, catered to six wards, with over 1,000 voters. According to eyewitnesses, around noon, a mob walked in alleging foul play in casting of ballots. “They pushed the election officials aside and brought the ballot box outside. They emptied it and set the ballot papers on fire,” said an election official.
Following this, election to four wards comprising close to 800 voters was stopped. Soon after the incident, P. Aravindan, superintendent of police, visited the spot and deployed the personnel at the school. “We continued the voting in one booth. We convinced the residents to cast their votes without fear,” said a police officer.
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A total of five persons have been arrested. “It is suspected to be politically motivated. We are investigating,” said a senior police officer. Polling in Tiruvallur district got off to a slow start. By 9 a.m, only 6% had voted. At 3 p.m., the turnout had risen to 49.19%. At close, the voting percentage was estimated at 77.66.
The elections were held eight blocks — Tiruvallur, Tirutani, Pallipattu, R.K. Pettai, Tiruvalangadu, Poondi, Kadambathur and Poonamalee. The Chennai-Tiruvallur High Road was dotted with flags and posters of political parties and candidates. In most booths, voters who were standing in the queue to cast their vote complained that supporters of candidates were canvassing for votes. “The police is not chasing them away,” said a voter at Poondi Government High School. In the same school, a man carried an elderly woman voter into the booth and cast the ballot on her behalf.
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In Pularambakkam, commotion prevailed as a booth, for 900 voters from two wards, became cramped with people. The police closed the door and windows of the booth with some voters inside. “I did not cast my vote as I was getting late for work. They did not open the door for over 20 minutes. The district administration should have made better arrangements,” said M. Kumaresan, who works with Tangedco.
There were complaints of ink spreading on the ballot papers. In a few booths, Ikkadu for instance, residents staged a demonstration as they feared that their votes would be rejected.
Meanwhile, Tiruvallur collector Maheshwari Ravikumar inspected a sensitive booth at Ikkadu Kandigai. Speaking to reporters, she said that elaborate arrangements had been made for the two-phase election.
“There are a total of 14 counting centres. Basic amenities have been provided in the booths. A total of 616 sensitive booths have been identified. For the first phase, there are a total of 303 sensitive booths. Necessary security arrangements have been made. A total of 2,400 guards including policemen, home guards, ex-servicemen and retired policemen have been deployed,” she said. She added that web cameras were installed in 136 places and videographing was done in 116 booths.