30 per cent cast votes in Corporation re-polls

Chennai, Feb 18 (UNI) About 30 per cent of the voters exercised franchise in today's repolling for 67 wards of Chennai Corporation.

The polling, which was by and large peaceful, witnessed some minor comotions as the BJP, DMDK, CPI(M) and CPI argued with the authorities concerned over alleged bogus voting by the workers of DMK and PMK with the active connivence of the police.

The repoll was necessitated, following Madras High Court Division Bench's split verdict on a writ petition filed by the Opposition AIADMK, demanding repoll in all 155 wards of the Corporation, citing incidents of violence, booth capturing and rigging during the elections held on October 13, 2006.

Mr Justice P K Misra, to whom the case was referred for final judgement, ordered re-polls.

The main contestants for the re-polls were DMK, Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhgam (DMDK), Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and the CPI(M).

Thirty-three councillors were elected unopposed.

The opposition AIADMK and its ally MDMK stayed away from the re-polling as the State Election Commissioner (SEC) D Chandrasekaran was not removed from the post, which they demanded.

SEC D Chandrasekaran and City Police Commissioner Letika Saran, talking to newspersons said the repolling was incident-free.

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