DMK complains about inclusion of deleted rival, kin in poll rolls

While it is usual for opposition parties to allege irregularities in voters’ list, in a twist former ruling DMK councilor KKN Shanker has complained to officials of a AIADMK functionary who managed to vote despite his name and that of his relatives being deleted from the electoral rolls in the recent urban local body polls.

According to Shanker, “Tucker” K Janakiraman, a resident of ward 16 in Shenbakkam and an AIADMK functionary switched over to ward 31 when the ward his family was residing came under the reserved category. “He moved to ward 31 nearby along with 11 of his family members and his address when checked was that of a tea shop. We immediately objected to this following which all 12 names were deleted after officials verified that what we stated was true.”

However, DMK men were taken back when after a lapse of 10 days, all the names were found added to the electoral rolls in the additional list. “What irked us was that in the additional list the same address was given which was when we took up the issue seriously,” Shanker told DT Next.

Talks with poll officials at Katpadi resulted in officials passing the buck to their counterparts in the Vellore Collectorate. When DMK men approached the latter they were flabbergasted as they were unable to reveal how the 12 names were added after they were deleted due to an irregularity.

When asked about the issue, Janakiraman said, “Yes DMK men used officials to delete the names of all my family members, but I approached the Collector with whose help the names were again reinstated in the additional list.”

Asked about the address being a tea shop, he only said “it is my office” failing to explain how an office address can be given as the address for all the members of the family. Shanker said he would refer the matter to the ruling party’s lawyers wing to get at the root of the matter.