RK Nagar bypoll: MK Stalin writes to EC, alleges AIADMK distributed over Rs 100 crores of cash to voters

DMK working president MK Stalin wrote to the Election Commission of India, alleging that Tamil Nadu is witnessing “large-scale distribution of money to the tune of more than Rs 100 crores” by the ruling AIADMK party. According to ANI, Stalin claimed that AIADMK has been offering cash to voters in the Radhakrishnan Nagar (RK Nagar) Assembly Constituency ahead of the by-election. Stalin also requested the Election Commission to disqualify AIADMK candidate E Madhusudhanan. He urged the EC to “take action against AIADMK and the erring officials, and to ensure free and fair election” in the constituency. Canvassing seems to be in full swing in RK Nagar constituency as earlier on Sunday an aide of TTV Dhinakaran (his name is also spelt as Dinakaran) was arrested on bribery charges, leading to protests by rebel AIADMK leader’s supporters in the bypoll-bound constituency.

Chennai: Supporters of TTV Dhinakaran staged a protest after police arrested a woman supporter on allegations of distributing money #RKNagarByPoll pic.twitter.com/hfGQYkW3L2

— ANI (@ANI) December 17, 2017

Bypoll in the RK Nagar constituency, which is slated to be held on 21 December, was necessitated due to the death of J Jayalalithaa, who represented the Assembly segment, in December last year. [caption id=“attachment_4197433” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of DMK’s working president MK Stalin. PTI[/caption] The arrest of Dhinakaran’s aide is not the only instance though. On Saturday, election officials had seized over Rs 13 lakh from a premise in Korukkupet. RK Nagar also witnessed chaotic scenes on Saturday when some men, who were accused of trying to distribute cash to voters, were chased by the Chennai police and DMK cadres. PTI reports that these DMK protesters also resorted to flash demonstrations on Saturday demanding action over rampant cash distribution ahead of the polls. That’s not all though. Poll authorities have seized over Rs 6,34,400 between 24 November and till Saturday afternoon. Over 95 FIRs have also been filed for poll-related violations and offences, and 15 persons have been remanded to judicial custody in this connection, election officials said. But despite that the Madras High Court had on Thursday  dismissed as not maintainable a plea for disqualifying three candidates, including Dhinakaran, for their alleged electoral malpractices during the earlier cancelled by-election. Tamil Nadu police personnel, along with a company of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and five companies of the Central Industrial Security Force arrived in the constituency on Friday to alleviate the tensions in the area. More companies of central armed police forces arrived on Saturday as well. AIADMK candidate E Madusudhanan, DMK candidate N Maruthuganesh and AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran, along with some independents, are in the fray for the bypoll of the RK Nagar constituency. With inputs from agencies