The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday decided to postpone polling in two Tamil Nadu assembly constituencies for the third time, saying bribery by candidates continued unabated despite its inital warnings.
Polling in Thanjavur and Aravakurichi had initially been postponed after the ECI seized Rs 100 crores from the two constituencies a few days before May 16, the polling day. Polls were then rescheduled for May 23.
A further amount of Rs 5,72,000 had been seized on May 18, prompting the ECI’s decision to postpone elections until such a time when fair elections can be held.
Following the development, on May 21, EC once again decided to defer the polls to June 13.
Tamil Nadu went to Assembly polls on May 16 when AIADMK returned to power for a second consecutive term.
In a press statement on Saturday, the commission clarified its decision to postpone the elections for a third time in a row: “to the utter dismay of the Commission, allurement of voters by unlawful means still continued even after postponement of polls.”
“The Commission’s attempt has always been to conduct elections in a timely manner,” the press statement continued, “but the important Constitutional mandate of having to ensure free and fair elections cannot be overlooked.”
The EC said that elections would be held in Thanjavur and Aravakurichi, but only when “the atmosphere becomes conducive to the holding of free and fair elections after a reasonable lapse of time.”
Tamil Nadu governor K Rosaiah has been formally asked to rescind EC’s earlier notification, which had set the voting date to June 13.
The governor had approached the election commission on Friday and recommended that the elections be held as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Saturday also asked the EC to hold the elections before June 6 due to the Ramzan season and Rajya Sabha elections to Tamil Nadu.