Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder-leader S. Ramadoss has accused the Election Commission (EC) of having brought the entire State machinery under its control, which, he says, is against the very principles of democracy.
“It (EC) has lost its balance and turned one-sided, though it does not resort to such acts in West Bengal, Kerala and Assam,” the PMK leader alleged, addressing the media before launching his campaign in Salem city on Wednesday.
Dr. Ramadoss said the Madurai Collector had been forcing election officers to foist false cases on leaders of DMK-led allies.
The EC, instead of protecting a victim (here the Returning Officer of Madurai East Assembly), who charged that the Collector had been forcing him to register false cases against Union Minister of Fertilisers and Chemicals M. K. Alagiri, had punished him by ordering his suspension.
“No thorough enquiry was conducted into the entire incident,” he charged.
Dismissing the claims that people were looking for a change, the PMK leader said people were not backing such claims this time.
The Congress had ruled till 1967 and the DMK remained in power till 1977, followed by the AIADMK. But after the 1989 elections the DMK and the AIADMK had been sharing power alternately.
“But this time, there will not be a change in the government since neither a discernible anti-DMK wave nor an anti-incumbency factor could be witnessed. The development schemes have reached the poor and downtrodden. The call for a change is the handiwork of a few media organisations, which people will dismiss it in the polls,” he pointed out.
On Vijayakant's DMDK, touted as an alternative to the two Dravidian parties, he said it had lost its vote share considerably since the credibility of the actor-cum-politician was eroded and his individuality was in tatters after aligning with the AIADMK. “He cannot make any impact on the electorate today,” he said.
The PMK, he said, would never hesitate to take up people's issues, including demand for total prohibition, after the elections.
