The Left parties on Thursday accused the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) of distributing money to voters in two Tamil Nadu Assembly constituencies where bypolls are scheduled for October 6, and demanded that the Election Commission take action.
The two Left parties, which won two Assembly seats in the April 23 elections, provide outside support to the TVK government. The CPI(M) is contesting in Madurantakam, while the Communist Party of India (CPI) is contesting in Dharapuram. Everyone knows that the Marxist Communist Party is contesting in Madurantakam and the Communist Party of India is contesting in Dharapuram. “However, reports are coming from the field that others are distributing money to voters on a massive scale. Shanmugam alleged that the two election commissioners had exposed massive irregularities within the Election Commission and accused the CEC of functioning as a puppet of the ruling party.
P Shanmugam, state secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), said the Commission must take note of the allegations and seek answers from the political parties concerned. But, people in some villages told us that everyone else is distributing money while we are giving only pamphlets,” he said. He said the Left parties had told voters that their strength lay in struggles and party principles, and that neither the CPI nor the CPI(M) would buy votes by distributing money. The Election Commission must take action on this, and the concerned leaders of such political parties must answer,” Shanmugam said. “This is not an issue belonging to one specific party, it is about protecting the voting rights of the citizens of India,” he said, appealing to democratic forces to unite to safeguard constitutionally guaranteed voting rights.
“Regarding the assembly by-elections, I went to Madurantakam yesterday. Yesterday, when we visited several villages in Madurantakam, we were distributing pamphlets detailing why the Left parties are contesting and why people should vote for us.
