TN Election Results 2021: After 26 hours of counting, Vijayabaskar pulls off win in Viralimalai
PUDUKKOTTAI: The Viralimalai assembly constituency, which saw an emotional campaign between Health Minister C Vijayabaskar of the AIADMK and DMK's M Palaniappan witnessed an equally dramatic counting day, which stretched well into the next day, due to allegations of EVM tampering.
Victory finally came for Vijayabaskar on Monday, 26 hours after counting began on Sunday.
This is the former Health Minister's third consecutive win from the constituency and highest victory margin so far. Vijayabaskar secured 1,02,179 votes and defeated DMK's M Palaniappan by 23,598 votes.
This is the third time the two men have clashed and was expected to be Palaniappan's last chance at a win.
In 2011, Palaniappan, who contested as an independent, secured 15,397 votes. In 2016, he contested on a DMK ticket and lost to Vijayabaskar by 8, 447 votes.
The former Health Minister's resounding victory may offer the AIADMK some solace, as it is the only seat won by the party out of the six in Pudukkottai district.
26 hours of counting
Problems with the counting began from the very first round at 8 am on Sunday. There were 14 tables set for counting. While the process was smooth in 13 tables, problems arose in the 14th table.
Candidates alleged that the number on one of the 14 EVM machines did not match the number given to them on the Form 17C. When officials said that they could open the VVPAT machine and tally the votes, the candidates, especially the DMK, did not agree.
An argument ensued between the candidates and officials and counting was stopped for almost two hours. Finally, after senior officials intervened, counting resumed at 11 am. The VVPAT machine was opened and the votes were tallied with the machine.
However, soon after counting for round 2 began, the DMK said that the numbers on two machines did not match the ones given to them in Form 17C. The counting was stopped again at noon. DMK agent KK Chellapandi submitted a complaint to District Collector P Uma Maheshwari that counting be stopped until the issue with the machines was resolved.
"The numbers on three EVMs did not match the ones we had been given as per Form 17c. The numbers in the control unit and the ones in Form 17c need to match. How can there be a mistake in three numbers? The numbers didn't tally for tables 4, 5 and 14. We want counting to be stopped till this issue is sorted out," said Chellapandi.
The party said that it had already flagged an issue when the machines were checked on April 7 after voting.
"One of the tags that bears the number of ballot units was found lying outside the strong room on April 7. When there have been no discrepancies in other constituencies, we suspect wrongdoing here," said Chellapandi.
After the petition was submitted, senior officials went into the counting centre and resolved the issue. The VVPAT machines were opened and votes were tallied. Counting for round 2 then resumed but was again stopped briefly in rounds 3 and 4. Then after six rounds were counted, a big commotion erupted and at 6 pm the DMK asked that counting be stopped.
Subsequently, the DMK's organising secretary RS Bharathi urged the Election Commision to stop the counting of votes for Viralimalai. Palaniappan alleged that the votes had been tampered with.
"Several EVM boxes did not have seals or tags. How is that possible? They were tied with an ordinary rope. The boxes also look different. There was a power cut on Saturday night in this area for an hour. Anything could have happened," claimed Palaniappan.
Later, Vijayabaskar also spoke to reporters and said that they wanted counting to be done in a fair manner. "We have observed that more than 1,000 postal ballots have been declared invalid. We would want that to be looked into," said Vijayabaskar.
Finally, at 12 am on Monday, it seemed like counting would resume but every time a box was touched, there was an uproar in the counting area. SP Balaji Saravanan arrived at the centre with extra security yet there was no respite.
At 1 am, the Collector and SP arrived at the centre to hear the issues raised by the candidates. Round 7 of counting finally resumed at 1.10am on Monday.
Thirteen EVM boxes, which had seals or tags missing, were placed separately and counting resumed. Even after that, there were constant complaints by the DMK. Both Dravidian parties wrote to the Election Commission several times.
Finally, 23 rounds of counting were completed at around 10 am on Monday morning and Vijayabaskar was certified the victor.
C Vijayabaskar, AIADMK – 1,02,179 votes (52.83%)
M Palaniappan, DMK – 78,581 (40.63%)
P Azhagumeena, NTK – 7,035 (3.64%)