"Deploy Reserve Police Force to ensure violence-free polls"

AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa during an election campaign recently.

AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa on Tuesday demanded the deployment of Reserve Police Force across the State to ensure violence-free elections.

In a statement, she said that the Election Commission, Chief Electoral Officer and the Police Department should take into account the “violence unleashed by the DMK” in the past few days, and take steps to prevent untoward incidents on election day.

She alleged that fearing defeat, the Chief Minister was misusing the official machinery besides resorting to methods of bribing voters and targeting the members of the Opposition party, “to subvert democracy.”

Ms. Jayalalithaa said that in Madathukulam constituency AIADMK candidate C. Shanmugavelu was attacked the ruling party workers when he tried to prevent them from distributing money to voters.

A local leader of the DMDK was murdered for questioning the activities of the ruling party activists in violation of election rules. In a separate statement, she alleged that the DMK was planning to rig the polls with the help of bureaucrats and police officers. “The Election Commission should take stringent action against these officials. If there is violence on election day, the intelligence officials of the Centre and the State government will be held responsible.”