Mayoral by-poll: Opposition parties seek removal of outsiders

900 police personnel deployed for election-related duties in Tirupur

Electronic voting machines along with the election materials being despatchedto polling stations from Sidhapudur Corporation Higher Secondary School inthe city on Wednesday. Photo: M. Periasamy

Candidates, cutting across party lines, have demanded measures to immediately evict outsiders staying in Coimbatore ahead of the mayoral by-poll slated for Thursday for which campaigning came to an end on Tuesday evening.

While election norms dictate that residents of other cities/districts leave Coimbatore by 5 p.m. on Tuesday when campaigning concluded, the opposition parties have alleged that this has not been the case.

The issue gains significance in the wake of an alleged assault on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate R. Nandha Kumar on Wednesday.

Petition

In a petition to the City Police, he claimed that the person who led the assault against him was the chairperson of a local body in another district. Following this, opposition parties have flayed the district administration and the police for not implementing the election guidelines.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate C. Padmanabhan accused the ruling party of bringing in its cadres from other districts.

“It was these outsiders who disrupted the election address of T.K. Rangarajan, Rajya Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu, on Tuesday. Our party had highlighted the need to evict people from other districts on Sunday when we petitioned the district administration. However, no action was taken on our complaints,” he added.

In Tirupur, around 900 police personnel were deployed for duties related to polling scheduled to take place for the by-elections to various posts in the civic bodies in the district.

Of them, around 500 personnel which include five Deputy Superintendents of Police, 15 Inspectors and 75 Sub-Inspectors were posted in the areas that fall under Tirupur Rural Police district and the remaining in the city limits.

Corporation administration has made elaborate arrangements for the elections to select councillors for Wards 22 and 45.

“A total of eight booths have been set up in Ward 22 for an electorate of 12,290 (male- 6,578, female- 5,710 and others-2).

“Likewise, 12 booths are ready for elections in Ward 45 which has 13,295 voters (male- 6,913, female- 6,382),” official sources told The Hindu .