AIADMK boycotted in fear of losing deposit: R S Bharathi

Chennai: DMK organizational secretary R S Bharthi on Monday launched a scathing attack on AIADMK, alleging that the rival party had boycotted the Vikravandi by-poll in fear of losing its deposit. Responding to Bharathi, former AIADMK minister D Jayakumar said DMK had no locus standi to criticise AIADMK as it too had boycotted byelections in the past.
Addressing reporters at DMK headquarters, Anna Arivalayam, Bharathi said “Already, they (AIADMK) had lost deposit in several constituencies in the recently concluded Lok Sabha election and they know very well they will lose their deposit in the Vikravandi bypoll too.”
The comment comes after AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami announced boycott of Vikravandi bypoll, alleging there would be “no transparency”.
For his part, Bharathi recalled the 1992 election for St Thomas Mount Cantonment Board and accused the then govt under former CM J Jayalalithaa of booth capturing.
“When Jayalalitha assumed office after her victory in the 1991 assembly poll, the first election was for St Thomas mount cantonment. It was in that election that the concept of booth capturing was introduced in Tamil Nadu. Booth capturing was hitherto unknown to the state though it was prevalent in North India. DMK MLAs (who opposed it) were attacked at that time,” Bharathi said.
“We all know how they conducted every election after that. Palaniswami might not know all this. He (Palaniswami) thinks people would have forgotten the election,” Bharathi said.
Reacting to DMK’s charges, Jayakumar said the party had no right to criticize the AIADMK for its decision to boycott the bypoll as DMK itself had boycotted bypolls in Pudukkottai and Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar assembly constituencies in 2012 and 2015, respectively.
He accused the ruling party of “abusing power” and “influencing voters through muscle and money power,” similar to what allegedly occurred in the Erode East bypoll where, he said, voters were treated like cattle. “Had the Erode East bypoll been held in a free and fair manner and democracy not stifled, we would have contested now. Contesting bypoll is a waste of time, energy, money, and fuel,” Jayakumar said.
Jayakumar dismissed allegations that the AIADMK’s decision to boycott the bypoll was influenced by the BJP. The party had carefully considered the advantages and disadvantages of participating in the election before making its decision.
In the meantime, state higher education minister K Ponmudy, at a meeting of party functionaries in Villupuram, said as AIADMK had boycotted the bypoll its cadres and supporters would vote for DMK.