Appavu challenges AIADMK nominee's victory at Radhapuram

Chennai: Defeated DMK candidate M.Appavu on Monday filed a petition in the Madras high court to declare the election of returned AIADMK candidate I.S.Inbadurai from Radhapuram Assembly constituency in  the May Assembly election by a margin of 49 votes, as void.

In the election petition, Appavu also sought recounting of all postal ballots after re-verification, including postal votes rejected as invalid and for recounting of the regular votes recorded in Electronic Voting machines, covered under 19th, 20th and 21st rounds of counting. He also sought to declare himself  as duly elected.

This petition is likely to come up for hearing on August 5. According to Appavu, as scheduled, counting of postal ballots commenced on May 19 and during counting, his agent raised objections regarding the validity of postal votes said to have been polled in favour of Inbadurai. The agent of Inbadurai also raised objections in the postal ballot papers polled in his favour.

The Returning Officer (RO) immediately, instead of deciding the objections and completing the counting, unilaterally deferred the counting of postal ballots. Despite objections from his agent, the Returning Officer started counting regular votes polled in Electronic Voting Machines in a hasty manner. The RO's action was against law.

Meanwhile, after much persuasion, the RO informed him that more than 200 postal votes had been declared invalid. Immediately, he gave a representation to scrutinise the rejected postal ballots properly. However, the RO refused to receive the representation.

In the meantime, news about overall leading of AIADMK candidates in various Assembly constituencies started pouring in. Coming to know about the same, the attitude of a majority of counting staff, including RO changed and he declined his request for recounting. The-reafter, when he and his agent raised objections with regard to the validity of postal ballots polled in favour of Inbadurai, the RO with the help of police evicted them.

Though Inbadurai had secured 8.710 votes in the 19th, 20th and 21st rounds, the RO declared 9,058 votes as secured by Inbadurai, thereby an excess of 348 were added in favour of the AIADMK nominee with an intention to declare him as elected.