The DMK has petitioned the Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Kumar accusing the District Collector of Salem and other officials of the district administration of partisanship and not acting on complaints about violations of the model code of conduct by AIADMK Ministers and functionaries during the campaigning for the December 4 Yercaud Assembly by-poll.
In a complaint lodged with the CEO, DMK’s organisation secretary T.K.S. Elangovan, MP, and deputy general secretary V.P. Duraisamy, alleged that the Salem Collector was “going out his way” to support the ruling AIADMK and ignoring complaints raised by partymen in the Opposition.
Seeking intervention of the Election Commission and action against errant officials of the district administration, the DMK stated that it could not expect a free and fair by-election in Yercaud Assembly segment in the presence of the District Collector of Salem.
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According to the complaint, while no action had been taken against the AIADMK candidate for violations of code of conduct, the DMK candidate (V. Maran) had to surrender before the Magistrate and obtain bail after a case was made out.