Tamilaga Vivasayigal Sangam to boycott polls over false cases
The Sangam’s state general secretary S Udayakumar on Tuesday announced their move at the farmers’ grievances meeting in the Vellore Collectorate.
Farmers at the grievances meet in Vellore on Tuesday
VELLORE: The Tamilaga Vivasayigal Sangam members said they will boycott the ensuing Parliament polls and a decision to this effect would be taken on February 6.
The Sangam’s state general secretary S Udayakumar on Tuesday announced their move at the farmers’ grievances meeting in the Vellore Collectorate.
The members were forced to take the decision following forest officials demanding that two farmers who were arrested for putting up an electric fence to protect crops from wild animals pay requisite fine and also give in writing that they would not indulge in similar activities in the future.
The issue dates back to August 28, 2022, when forest officials arrested two farmers Mohan Babu and Suresh of Sarangal village near Pernambut for putting up a fence and electrifying it with 12 volts to safeguard their crops from wild animals.
The issue generated a lot of heat resulting in forest officials blamed for arresting both after asking the farmers to come to their office to demonstrate the equipment to prove that the 12 volts was not harmful to either humans or animals.
Udayakumar in a letter to the then collector P Kumaravel Pandian on October 10, 2022 demanded action against forest officials responsible for foisting the false case.
Kumaravel Pandian in a letter to the Vellore DFO dated February 17, 2023, asked that appropriate action within the limits of the wildlife Act be taken on the issue in question. The letter also included the report of the Gudiyattam RDO who conducted individual enquiries with all the concerned parties.
“We handed over petitions in this connection to forest minister Ramachandran and later to CM MK Stalin when he visited Vellore for two days in February last year,” Udayakumar told DT Next.
“Even collector Kumaravel Pandian had announced in an earlier agriculture grievances meet that the cases would be withdrawn based on the assurance of the CM and hence we wonder why the forest department wants to make it a prestige issue now. However there will be no going back on the poll boycott and if we are pressurised to vote then we will vote NOTA (none of the above)” he warned.
