PWF to boycott Aravakurichi, Thanjai elections

Conveying the decision here, MDMK, general secretary and convener of the PWF Vaiko expressed doubts whether the elections to the two Assembly seats would be held in a democratic manner. “We do not believe that the elections will be conducted in a fair and transparent manner so we have decidide not field candidate in both the constituencies,” he said.

Vaiko claimed that it would be a repeat of the situation that prevailed ahead of the May 16 election in both the seats where there was rampant bribing of voters. 

Speaking to DTNext, R Mutharasan, state secretary, CPI, said that they had unanimously decided to boycott the elections in the two constituencies. “In the May 16 elections, candidates from DMDK and MDMK were fielded in Thanjavur and Aravakurichi respectively on behalf of the PWF. However, elections were rescinded by the EC due to largescale money distribution,” he said and added that the EC only cancelled the elections, but it had announced elections without proper explanation regarding the bribing allegation. 

It may be noted that the VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan already stated that the front would not field candidate and his party would stress the same point with the PWF allies. However, leaders from the Left parties some days ago said that they would discuss and take a final call on fielding candidates in the two seats. 

On the other hand, the mood in camps of other parties does not seem to be active in contesting the elections in the two seats. However, the BJP had said that it would shortly announce candidates for the two seats. As such, only the arch rivals AIADMK and DMK, had announced their candidates.