Vaiko springs surprise, will not contest poll

Kovilpatti: Announcing his decision not to contest the high-stakes May 16 Assembly elections, MDMK chief Vaiko on Monday charged the DMK with trying to vitiate the “peaceful” atmosphere in this constituency by creating a “conflict between Naicker and Thevar communities” using his candidature as the focal point.

High drama prevailed at the office of the Returning Officer for Kovilpatti constituency in this town in Thoothukudi district after Mr Vaiko along with his supporters arrived at the RDO office premises to file his nomination. However, in his trademark style, the MDMK chief asked his party’s Thoothukudi district secretary G Vinayaga Ramesh to file nomination as his dummy candidate.

Since Mr Ramesh did not have enough money to pay the deposit amount, Mr Vaiko offered him a helping hand by paying the amount to the Returning Officer.

As he stepped out of the office and boarded an open jeep, Mr Vaiko announced his decision to withdraw his candidature from the Assembly elections.

“The DMK candidate in Kovilpatti from where I had announced that I would contest the Assembly election had publicly said that the community to which he belongs has 70,000 voters whereas the community to which Vaiko belongs to has only 50,000 votes. So, he has openly declared that he would win since there would be division of votes. The DMK did not condemn the statement,” Mr Vaiko said, reading from a written statement.