Vaiko's plea to CEC

Chennai, May 18 (UNI) MDMK General Secretary Vaiko today urged the Chief Election Commissioner to appoint a neutral and impartial person as the Returning Officer (RO) for the Rajya Sabha Polls to be held next month.

In a letter to the CEC, a copy of which was released to the press here, he said appointment of a neutral person alone, instead of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Secretary M Selvaraj as RO, would ensure a free and fair elections.

Recalling the large scale violence let ''loose by the DMK'' during the elections to the Chennai Corporation in October last year, Mr Vaiko said there had been precedents earlier that the appointment of the Assembly Secretary as the RO was not accepted by the Election Commission.

Stating that the Election Commission has powers to appoint the RO under the election law as observed by the Supreme court, he appealed to the CEC to appoint an officer with high integrity and impartiality as the RO at the earliest.

UNI