Now, MDMK to boycott Pudukottai byelection

CHENNAI: Toeing the line of the CPI and DMK, the MDMK too has decided not to contest the Pudukottai bypoll. In a release, party general secretary Vaiko recalled that AIADMK chose to boycott the byelection to five Assembly seats, citing unfair practices, including misuse of official machinery and bribing of voters, by the then ruling DMK during the bypoll to the Tirumangalam constituency. He charged that both the arch-rivals, DMK and AIADMK, had pumped in several crores of rupees in the recently concluded to Sankarankoil bypoll. The SEC, under the then Chief Electoral Officer Naresh Gupta, had taken steps to curtail money and muscle power during the Tirumangalam bypoll which, he observed, was missing in the Sankarankoil bypoll.He charged that no action was taken by the EC even as those bribing voters were caught red-handed and were later handed over to the police. “Therefore, the party has taken a decision to boycott the bypoll in order to expose the sabotaging of democracy to the citizens of the State”, he said.