President Ram Nath Kovind rescinded the notification to hold the election to the Vellore Lok Sabha seat based on the recommendation made by the poll panel. Polling in the constituency was scheduled for 18 April. New Delhi: The Lok Sabha election to the Vellore constituency was cancelled on Tuesday following recovery of huge amount of cash allegedly from a DMK candidate's office a few days ago. President Ram Nath Kovind rescinded the notification to hold the election to the seat based on the recommendation made by the poll panel. Polling in Vellore was scheduled for 18 April. The Election Commission took the decision after the district police had filed a complaint against the accused, Kathir Anand, as well as two party functionaries on the basis of a report from the Income Tax department on 10 April. Anand was charged under the Representation of the People Act for giving "wrong information" in his election affidavit filed along with his nomination papers, the police said. The other two, identified as Srinivasan and Damodaran, were booked under bribery charges. The recommendation was sent to the legislative department of the law ministry on Tuesday which issued the notification. The Tamil Nadu chief electoral officer has now been informed about the decision. He will, in turn, inform the political parties and candidates about the notification, sources in the government said. On 30 March, Income-Tax officials had conducted searches at the residence of Anand's father Durai Murugan over suspected use of unaccounted money for electioneering, and seized Rs. 10.50 lakh in alleged "excess" cash. Two days later, they claimed to have seized Rs 11.53 crore from a cement go-down belonging to a DMK leader's associate in the same district. Murugan, however, said that he had not concealed anything. Questioning the timing of the Income Tax department's operation, he had alleged that the raids were a "conspiracy" by certain political leaders who could not face them in the electoral arena.<doc-sep>The Election Commission had recommended that the polls in Vellore be cancelled as it received a “highly damaging” report on abuse of money power in the constituency President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday rescinded the election to the Vellore Lok Sabha seat based on a recommendation of the Election Commission, following a detailed report on the use of money power to influence voters. The I-T Department had seized ₹11.48 crore from the house of an alleged associate of DMK treasurer Duraimurugan, whose son Kathir Anand is the party candidate for Vellore. Also Read EC’s elaborate report to President led to Vellore poll cancellation The poll panel’s decision, I-T searches at DMK leader Kanimozhi’s house in Thoothukudi and police firing at Andipatti in Theni brought campaigning in Tamil Nadu to a dramatic close. Voting for 38 Lok Sabha constituencies and in bypolls to 18 Assembly seats will take place in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on April 18. ‘Democracy murdered’ DMK treasurer Durai Murugan arrives to address the media in Vellore on Tuesday, April 16, 2019. | Photo Credit: C. Venkatachalapathy On the EC’s decision to countermand the election in Vellore, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami said only the erring candidate should have been disqualified instead of cancelling the polls. DMK leader M.K. Stalin termed the decision biased and a “murder of democracy”. The EC said its recommendation was based on detection of a “systematic design to influence voters”. Also Read Polling in Tripura East deferred to April 23 “Srinivasan (from whose brother-in-law’s house the money was seized) stated that the cash was meant to influence voters in favour of DMK’s candidate,” the EC said. Documents found with the cash pertained to an institution run by Mr. Anand’s family, exposing the “nexus between the candidate and the sums so found”. Special Expenditure Observer Madhu Mahajan also filed a report on April 8, stating that such activities came under the ambit of “corrupt practices” under the Representation of the People Act. “The Special Expenditure Observer was of the opinion that the situation is not conducive for the conduct of free and fair elections,” said the EC. TN Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo also felt the current situation was not conducive for conducting free and fair polls in Vellore.<doc-sep>The Election Commission, in 2017, had countermanded elections to the Dr R.K. Nagar Assembly seat in Tamil Nadu. Chennai: The Election Commission of India has “partially rescinded” the election in the Vellore Lok Sabha constituency in the state, following massive cash haul by the Income Tax sleuths. Tuesday’s cancellation has come two days ahead of the poll date. Vellore becomes the first constituency in India where a Lok Sabha election has been cancelled because of cash-for-votes. In April 2017 and May 2016, the election to Tamil Nadu’s R. K. Nagar Assembly constituency; and Aravakurichi and Thanjavur was deferred owing to largescale distribution of cash-for-votes. The ECI’s announcement on Tuesday was based on a report submitted by the Income Tax department on the cash seized in Vellore. Two weeks ago, over Rs 11 crore was seized from a cement godown, belonging to a local DMK functionary. The EC had written to the President Ram Nath Kovind, recommending a cancellation. The President in turn had asked the law ministry for its opinion. On Tuesday evening, the President gave his assent to cancel the election in Vellore. “On the basis of recommendations of Election Commission of India, the honourable President is pleased to partially rescind the notification dated March 19, 2019, in so far as it relates to calling upon 8-Vellore parliamentary constituency in Tamil Nadu to elect a member to Lok Sabha and accordingly made the amendment in the said notification,” said EC in a statement. As per the ECs final order, “The commission is fully satisfied that the current electoral process in 8-Vellore parliamentary constituency in Tamil Nadu has been seriously vitiated on account of unlawful activities of certain candidates and some members/workers of the political party and in the Commission’s considered opinion, allowing the current electoral process to proceed and conducting the poll in the said constituency on 18th April 2019, as scheduled, in such a vitiated atmosphere would severely jeopardise the conduct of free and fair election in said constituency.”<doc-sep>
The Election Commission has recommended to President Ram Nath Kovind that polling in the Vellore parliamentary constituency scheduled to be held on Thursday be cancelled, The Indian Express reported. The poll panel cited the suspected use of money to influence voters. It is not clear whether bye-elections in two Assembly seats – Ambur and Gudiyattam – under the Vellore Lok Sabha seat will also be countermanded or will be held as planned on Thursday. The Rashtrapati Bhavan reportedly received the poll body’s proposal to cancel polls in the seat on Monday night and it will be shared with the Law Ministry on Tuesday. Election Commission’s official spokesperson Sheyphali Sharan, however, told ANI that the poll panel has not issued any order regarding cancellation of polls in Vellore. According to Hindustan Times, the Election Commission will decide on Tuesday whether polling should be cancelled there based on a report from the Tamil Nadu chief electoral officer. “The Election Commission will take a call on whether the election atmosphere has been vitiated,” an unidentified official said. If notified by the president, Vellore will be the first Lok Sabha seat where elections have been countermanded over abuse of money power, according to The Indian Express. The poll body’s recommendation to cancel elections in Vellore came in the wake of Income Tax officials seizing Rs 15.13 crore cash from the house of Poonjolai Srinivasan, a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam functionary, who is believed to be a close associate of DMK Treasurer Durai Murugan in Vellore district, according to The Hindu. Searches were also held at the Vellore house of Durai Murugan’s son, Kathir Anand, from where officials seized around Rs 10.5 lakh unaccounted cash on March 29. Kathir Anand is the DMK candidate in Vellore. The Vellore district police had filed a complaint against Anand and two party functionaries on the basis of a report from the Income Tax department on April 10. On April 1, a second Income Tax search was launched based on information that illegal cash was being moved from a college owned by the Durai Murugan family to a cement warehouse in Vellore and officials seized Rs 11.53 crore. In 2017, the Election Commission had countermanded elections to the RK Nagar Assembly seat in Tamil Nadu twice. In April 2016, the poll body had postponed elections in Aravakurichi and Thanjavur during the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, after cash amounting to crores was recovered from sites belonging to persons close to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.