DINDIGUL
Demanding that the polling station in their locality remains in the same place, residents of A.V. Patti near Vadamadurai here submitted a memorandum to Collector T.G. Vinay here on Monday.
As the model code of conduct is in force, the district administration has not been convening the weekly grievance meeting. However, the public handed over the petition to the officials concerned at the Collectorate.
Speaking to reporters, the public said that some officials in the Vadamadurai union office had not consulted or given an opportunity for a public hearing or had received any petitions as mandated by the senior officials before effecting any change or amend the location of polling stations.
Instead, the local officials had ‘decided’ to shift certain wards/voters in the habitations to another polling station, which was more than a kilometre.
Opposing the unilateral decision of the union officials at Vadamadurai, the residents alleged it would only benefit the ruling party functionaries.
Explaining the issue, they said that currently the polling station in A.V. Patti was situated in part 285 in ward 2. This included Thottaya Koundanur, Nanni Asariyur, Narasingapuram, VKS Nagar, Sankarkalam and Kallanoor Kalathu habitations among others.
However, after the amends, voters in Thottaya Koundanur, Narasingapuram and Kallanoor Kalathu habitations have been shifted to another polling station. The officials have also shifted VKS Nagar and Sankarkalam to a new polling station.
Not just that, the officials have brought in fresh voters from far away locations, to name a few, Ambalakaranpatti, Bojanampatti along with the A.V. Patti voters and shifted the entire voters to an existing polling station in Bojanampatti school.
The public representatives Sakti Ganesh and Sasikumar also claimed that from the beginning, i.e., since 1952, the people of A.V. Patti had been casting their votes only on the premises in ward 2 till the recently concluded Lok Sabha poll.
Hence, changing the location on their own was highly objectionable, they said.
If the officials went ahead with the changes, the residents numbering more than 1,000 would surrender the ration cards and the EPIC to the district administration as a mark of protest, the public threatened and said that they would boycott the ensuing polls.
An official in-charge of the local body elections in Vadamadurai union, however, said that the representation of the residents would definitely be considered. The decision to amend certain polling stations was not final and that they had ample time to get it set right, he clarified.
