Sensitive Pennagaram By: Poll: 85% Voter Voted

The Pennagaram by-election which stands as an "Acid test" for the political parties in Tamil Nadu, for the general election which is going to be held in May , recorded nearly 84% votes on Saturday.

Till 5 p.m., (ending time of poling) 84.77 per cent of voters exercised their franchise, according to P. Amutha, Dharmapuri Collector and District Election Officer. The Pennagaram constituency, part of the backward district of Dharmapuri, has a total of 2,01,008 voters, of whom men account for 1,12,892 and women 98,116.

The Sate Chief-Electora, Officer(CEO) MrNaresh Gupta, now stationed at Dharmapuri, is monitoring the polling from the control room at the collectorate.

In Samichettipatti village (25 km from the Dharmapuri town), the police chased away a mob who assembled near a polling booth. One person sustained minor injury. In another village - Nagaramarai, the police detained some people, the exact number of whom was not available immediately.

It was after 10. A.m. the voter turnout picked up momentum. The Women voters outnumbered men. The figure of polling was 13.2 per cent till 10 a.m.; 23.78 per cent (11 a.m.); 29.35 per cent (noon) and 46 per cent (1 p.m.), according to the control room at the Dharmapuri district collectorate.

Due to a technical problem, the polling started half-an-hour late in Kullanaur polling station, which covers Thalappallam, the native village of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) nominee R. Anbalagan. In Moongilmaduvu village, the native place of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) president G.K. Mani, whose Son Thamizh Kumaran contesting as PMK Candidate the turnout was heavy.

Tight security arrangements had been made for the by-polls with more than 2, 450 personnel, drawn from 3 companies each of the Central Industrial Security Force(CISF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Karnataka Armed Reserve Police. Besides, eight companies of Tamil Nadu Special Police were deployed. Additional police forces had been deployed at the polling booths in naxalite-affected villages of Eriyur, Nagamarai and Neruppur.

First aid centers were set up in all stations. An 11-member delegation of Bhutan led by Tashi Gyeltshen, Commissioner, visited a few polling stations in Pennagaram. The delegation, consisting of two Commissioners and nine Deputy Commissioners, is being accompanied by Kamal Sharma of the Election Commission.

On Friday, the team was briefed by Mr. Gupta and Ms Amutha regarding the poll arrangements.
It would also observe the counting process on Tuesday, according to an official release issued in Chennai.

The by-election was necessitated by the death of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Member of Legislative Assembly P.N. Periyannan. Apart from the DMK, the AIADMK, PMK and DMDK lead by Actor turned politician Vijayakanth have fielded their nominees.

Though 31 candidates are in the fray the poll is largely dominated by three major candidates - DMK's P.N.P. Inbasekaran, PMK's G.K.M. Tamilkumaran, and AIADMK's R. Anbalagan.
Polling was brisk since morning with voters forming long queues.

Mr. Gupta agreed that the polling percentage is high as in the case of earlier by-polls but declined to comment on the possible reasons.

During the run up to the elections all the parties traded charges of large scale electoral malpractices like distribution of cash and kind to woo the voters. "Complaints about the presence of outsiders were promptly looked into by the security forces”, Mr. Gupta told Asian Tribune.

"At one place there was a congregation of people from Dindugal. Police chased them away as it was felt they would enter the constituency and create trouble or distribute cash or involve in bogus voting," he added.

- Asian Tribune-