DMK president M.K. Stalin has yet again brushed aside as “untenable”, the charge by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami that the DMK was trying to get the local body polls postponed.
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Talking to reporters in Puducherry on Monday, he said that the DMK has been consistently contending that the local body polls should be conducted after proper delimitation of wards and also after earmarking reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women.
“At no stage had the DMK intended to get the polls put off as has been wrongly alleged by the AIADMK. The fact is that the Chief Minister was deliberately initiating steps not to conduct the polls and this plan was sought to be exhibited in collusion with the State Election Commissioner (SEC) by the ruling AIADMK,” he said.
Mr. Stalin also wanted the civic polls to be conducted in a single phase on the lines of the assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the past while the the government was trying to conduct the polls in several phases.
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“We approached the court only to ensure proper adherence to the statutory provisions and we did not have any intention of avoiding the polls or getting it postponed,” he said.
The DMK along with is allies were keen about holding the polls immediately but during the last three years, the AIADMK had been moving heaven and earth to stop the polls because the AIADMK was afraid of facing the people, he charged. But now having no other alternative but to hold the polls, the government was going ahead with the schedule, he added.
Earlier, Mr. Stalin visited Kammiyanpettai in Cuddalore district and handed over ₹1 lakh financial assistance on behalf of the party to the next of kin of three members of a family who were killed after their house collapsed following incessant rains last week.
Mr. Stalin also visited a marriage hall near Thirupadhiripuliyur near Cuddalore where over 200 people affected in the recent rains were accommodated and handed over relief materials to them.