Tension prevailed for a couple of hours when 300 postal ballots polled in Radhapuram constituency were rejected during the counting of votes citing the reason that the voters had obtained signatures of heads of middle schools, who are non-gazetted officers, on the postal ballots.
When the counting was over, AIADMK’s I.S. Inbadurai led the close contest by just 49 votes over the nearest DMK rival, M. Appavu. As the Returning Officer, P. Muruganandam, declared invalid 300 postal ballots, it triggered heated arguments inside the counting cubicle.
The Returning Officer said those who had polled postal ballots should have obtained signatures from a gazetted officer in the ballot paper. Since 300 postal ballots were found to be carrying the signatures of heads of middle schools, all non-gazetted officers, the votes had been treated as invalid.
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Mr. Appavu, who rushed to the counting centre around 2 p.m. on hearing about the rejection of votes, said the Returning Officer should get clarification in this connection from the Chief Electoral Officer himself. “If Mr. Rajesh Lakhoni can give me proof or established norms that the middle school heads could not sign the postal ballots, I’ll accept my defeat,” Mr. Appavu said.
When the Returning Officer, sitting in a separate room, held prolonged discussion over the phone, Mr. Appavu wanted to meet him to submit his demand in black and white. As he was denied permission, the three-time MLA sat on the floor inside the counting cubicle to start a dharna even as the DMK and the AIADMK supporters were raising slogans against each other.
While the Tamil Nadu police were brought there to flush out the supporters of the warring political parties, the paramilitary personnel were used to forcibly evict the protesting Appavu from the closure. He continued his protest outside the cubicle demanding clarification from Mr. Lakhoni.
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Even as the protest was going on, the ‘victory certificate’ was handed over to Mr. Inbadurai.