Election of AIADMK candidate from Natham challenged

Chennai, June 21 (UNI) A petition, challenging the election of AIADMK candidate and former Minister R Viswanathan from the Natham assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu, was filed in Madras High Court court today.

In his petition, M A Andiambalam, the defeated DMK candidate in the polls held on May eight, sought recount of votes and declaration of the election of Mr Vishwanathan as illegal.

Mr Andiambalam alleged that Mr Vishwanathan had misused the office of Minister, indulged in various misdeeds and committed irregularities ever since the commencement of the election, during the day of election and at the time of counting held on May 11.

When the fifth round was over, trouble started in the counting centre. Kannan, son-in-law of Vishwanathan, the agent representing Vishwanathan informed the Returning Officer (RO) that AIADMK was leading in more than 133 constituencies and AIADMK would form the government.

He also threatened the RO and other officials engaged in counting.

Hence, the agents left the counting hall, fearing violence.

The RO was a silent spectator to the illegal acts of Vishwanathan and his men, the petition claimed. Within 15 minutes counting was over and the RO declared that Vishwanathan had been elected, the petitioner added.

''The counting was not done in a fair and proper manner. There was manipulation and fabrication in counting of votes and furnishing figues,'' Mr Andiambalam contended.

Meanwhile, M Boominathan, another defeated candidate representing Marumalarchi DMK, also filed an election petition, challenging the election of N Nanmaran, a CPI(M) candidate from Madurai East Assembly constituency, by a thin margin of 51 votes.

The failure to follow the mandatory provisions in counting of postal ballots materially affected the poll results, he added.

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