After the conduct of the R.K. Nagar by-election, political parties have a feeling that no free and fair election was possible under Chief Electoral Officer Sandeep Saxena, Pattali Makkal Katchi founder-president S. Ramadoss said in Coimbatore on Wednesday.
Therefore, to have a free and fair 2016 Assembly election, the PMK would seek his removal and to this effect the party will submit a petition to the Election Commission, he said.
He also dismissed the possibility of an early election in the State saying it was the handiwork of the intelligence sleuths.
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Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's victory in the R.K. Nagar Assembly by-election “was not a real victory and it was definitely not a precursor to the ensuing Assembly election. This Chief Electoral Officer had hurriedly called for elections and rules were not followed favouring the ruling party.
“But in 2016, the AIADMK would suffer its biggest defeat — similar to the two seats it won in 2001,” he said.
Criticising the State Government for mismanaging the power situation, Dr. Ramadoss said that Ms. Jayalalithaa had promised to make Tamil Nadu a power-surplus state but she had only been extending deadlines. But to date, the State remained power deficient. This impacted the growth of industries.
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The situation now was so bad that many industries had shut down. This had resulted in unemployment. Likewise, less than one per cent of the promised Rs. 15 lakh crore had entered the State.
To reveal the true picture, the State Government should come out with a white paper on the issue, he said.