DMK asks ECI to hold bypoll in Thiruparankundram on April 18

Chennai: Consequent on the Madras High Court on Friday allowing the DMK poll petition and setting aside the election of AIADMK’s A.K. Bose (since deceased) in Thiruparankundram, the DMK organizing secretary R S Bharati has written to the Election Commission demanding that the by-election in this constituency should also be held along with the other elections on April 18.

Bringing to the ECI notice that the High Court has allowed the DMK defeated candidate Dr Saravanan’s poll petition and declared as void the nomination filed by the AIADMK candidate Bose, Bharati in his letter has pointed out that the court had also directed the Registry of the Court to intimate its decision forthwith to the ECI.

This would mean that there “are no pending election petitions as of today” in the Thiruparankundram Assembly constituency, said Bharati demanding that the ECI should forthwith notify the bye-elections to this seat to be held along with the General Elections on April 18.

In his letter, Bharati recalled that when the DMK moved the Supreme Court challenging the ECI omitting the three Assembly constituencies, including Thiruparankundram, while notifying by-elections for the rest of the 18 vacant Assembly seats, the ECI had told the Apex Court that polls were not notified in these three constituencies because election petitions were pending with regard to them. The same was reiterated to the delegation of DMK MPs and senior lawyers who met the ECI on March 16, Bharati said.

Now that the High Court has allowed the DMK poll petition and set aside Bose’s election, Thiruparankundram by-poll should be notified without further delay and be held on April 18, Bharati said.