Tamil Nadu: Political parties have urged Chief Election Commissioner of India Gyanesh Kumar to hold the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections in a single phase.
As the dates for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections are soon to be announced, Chief Election Commissioner of India Gyanesh Kumar held a meeting with recognized political parties at a private residence in MRC Nagar, Chennai, on Thursday.
State parties such as the DMK, AIADMK, DMDK, Naam Tamil, and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Nadu, as well as national parties such as the Congress, BJP, Aam Aadmi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, and Marxist, participated in the meeting.
At the meeting, political party leaders placed several demands before the Chief Election Commissioner, including inclusion of voters missing from the final voter list and holding the elections in a single phase.
After the meeting, representatives of the political parties briefed reporters on the points they demanded from the Election Commissioner:
R.S. Bharathi (DMK): Sometimes it takes up to a week for political parties to receive approval for media advertisements. To avoid this, approval should be granted within 24 hours of submitting the application.
T. Jayakumar (AIADMK): CCTV cameras should be installed at all polling stations. Central government employees should be included in election flying squads. After the elections are over, voter turnout should be reported at the polling station level. Only then can the final voter count be compared.
Election officials who support the ruling party should be monitored and action taken. Elections should be held in one phase, on one day.
K.V. Thangapalu (Congress): Even after the final voter list was published, eligible voters were not included. The voter list held by election officials should be given to recognized parties. There is a discrepancy in vote percentages. We have insisted that this should not happen. We have asked the authorities to conduct the elections simultaneously, in one phase.
Karate Thiagarajan (BJP): Polling station numbers should be clearly displayed. Officials who favor the ruling party should be replaced. Strict action should be taken to prevent money laundering.
P. Shanmugam (Marxist): Elections should be held on a single day. Elections should not be held during festivals. Major parties should be prohibited from giving gifts to voters.
Durai Ravikumar (Vijay): There should not be a long gap between voting and counting. There should be only 15 days for campaigning.
Seeman (Nathaka): In his petition, Seeman argued that if elections are held in multiple phases in all five states, Tamil Nadu should be the last phase. He argued that only 40 days for campaigning would allow emerging parties like Nathaka to more easily communicate their policies to the people.
