AIADMK to appeal against civic poll verdict

Chennai: All opposition parties welcomed the Madras high court judgment to cancel the local body elections, while the ruling AIADMK said it would appeal against the verdict.

Strongly supporting the verdict, DMK chief M. Karunanidhi said it would pave the way for free and fair elections. AIADMK spokesperson Vaigai Selvan said the Opposition parties, which are afraid of defeat in the local body elections,  had approached the court to get it cancelled. The AIADMK government would make an appeal against the cancellation of local body elections.

DMK ally Congress also welcomed the judgment, saying that the mistakes could be rectified. TNCC president S. Thirunavukkarasar said special officers would govern the local bodies for three months.

BJP state president Tamilisai Soundarrajan said accusations had been made against the state government as no time was given by the Opposition and confusion prevailed over the reservation for posts.

PMK founder S. Ramadoss said the mistakes committed by the state government had been rectified by the court verdict and the state government should hold the polls as per the verdict instead of appealing against it. Sharing a similar opinion MDMK general secretary Vaiko said the state government should follow the direction of the court to give reservation to Scheduled Tribes and hold the local body elections as per the court order.

CPI state secretary R. Mutharasan said the ruling party announced the list immediately after the election notification showing that it was deliberately done to help the ruling party. Welcoming the judgment, VCK leader Thol. Thirumavalavan said political parties were not given sufficient time for selection of candidates.

TMC leader G.K. Vasan said the civic polls should be conducted in a democratic manner giving sufficient time for all parties.