Did Chennai corporation commissioner violate model code?
Chennai corporation has two vacant wards that will go to polls next month
By : c.s. kotteswaran
Update: 2014-08-31 06:35 GMT
Chennai: While the municipal commissioners of Pallavaram and Tambaram municipalities cancelled the monthly council meetings on Friday, citing the state election commission model code of conduct coming into force, Chennai corporation commissioner Vikram Kapur, who is also the district election officer, went ahead and conducted the council proceedings. Chennai corporation has two vacant wards that will go to polls next month.
When state election commissioner S. Aiyyar was asked whether senior IAS officer Kapur had violated the model code of conduct, the election commissioner said the model code of conduct would apply only to the two wards of Chennai corporation where by-polls are slated. However, in the case of Coimbatore, Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi, the model code is implemented for the entire district, as all voters in these districts will elect their respective mayors, the commissioner clarified.
It will be free and fair elections on September 18, the commissioner assured, adding that the SEC has better credentials compared to the past. Corporation commissioner Kapur was not available for comment.
Former Chennai mayor M. Subramanian said the polls organised by the SEC lacked credentials and it is one of the prime reasons for his party avoiding the by-polls. The SEC first declared the by-poll date and later recalled the notification early this month. The reason given by the SEC was that the draft voter rolls for Coimbatore were not ready.
“Regimes change but the suspicion that the state election commission is biased continues. Credentials and credibility of the state election commission continues to be low, and this is one of the reasons for low voter turnout in the local body polls,” said Mr Nazir Ahmed, a resident of Kolathur.