Jaya fears planned violence in TN

With 54,314 polling stations set up across the state for an electorate of over 4.71 crores to exercise their franchise to elect a 234-members new Legislative Assembly, the final logistical arrangements for the one-day poll were completed on Tuesday as the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM)’ were all sent to the respective booths.

An amazing over 2.45 lakh government personnel have been deployed for Wednesday’s  poll duty, who were given the final drill on Tuesday on dos’ and don’ts, even as the Election Commission (EC) took recourse to horses to transport EVMs’ to far-flung polling booths in hill-side villages in some districts like Theni.

Official sources said that in Chennai city alone about 10,000 police personnel have been roped in for security purposes with 16 Assembly seats in the metro including some high profile constituencies like Kolathur where DMK’s Youth Wing leader and Deputy Chief Minister, M K Stalin is contesting. As many as 60 areas in the city have been identified as violence-prone which will be monitored more.

Vehicle checks continued to yield cash seizures even a day before the polling on Tuesday and over Rs two crores were seized on the outskirts of Chennai metro, official sources said. In some of the districts including Thiruvarur, Opposition AIADMK members and its allies staged road-roko to protest the distribution of money allegedly by the DMK activists.

Even as there was tension in Villupuram district after the alleged killing of 52-year-old Arjunan, President of the Vikravandi Town Panchayat, belonging to the DMK in what is feared as a poll-eve feud, the Villupuram DMK District Secretary and former Minister Dr K Ponmudi demanded that EC take steps to ensure a conducive atmosphere before voting for Vikravandi Assembly seat begins.

The Opposition AIADMK leader, J Jayalalitha, adverting to some violence incidents on Tuesday, charged that the ruling DMK was planning to unleash violence, particularly in constituencies where her party is strong.

In a statement in Chennai, she charged that a four-member top official’s team had been formed including a senior Union Home Ministry official, to “instigate violence through rowdy groups to terrorise voters on the polling day (April 13)”.