Local body poll: Voters bribed with egg parotta, liquor

MADURAI: Packets containing egg parotta, chicken biriyani, a quarter bottle of brandy, a plastic cup and water sachets were widely distributed to voters in the villages of Thanjavur and Pudukkottai by both the DMK and the AIADMK cadres seeking votes, according to activists in the area.
For women voters, nylon saris in different designs and colours with Rs 500 were distributed. "The Election Commission has so far not taken any action against anyone because there is no complaint filed by political parties. Since both the AIADMK and the DMK are involved in the business, they have a better understanding. They don't fight," says Sadasivakumar, an activist in Thanjavur.
The items, except egg parotta and biriyani, had been stored in huge halls near each polling booth for two weeks. The liquor bottles were brought from Pondicherry as it is cheap there. Peravurani, Mannargudi, Orathanadu, Thiruvonam and Gandharvakottai are the main areas where the packets were widely distributed, in Thanjavur district. Some say it was because of the DMK's alleged role in bribing voters in the last assembly election that led to the current trend. "It started with the DMK in the last assembly election. Money was flowing like water. Now, people are demanding money for their votes," says K Arumugam, an advocate in Thanjavur. However, talking to TOI, A K Giri, SP of Thanjavur, says the police haven't got any complaint regarding this. "They must be doing it secretly, but if we get to know about it we will not leave them. We will take strong action against them. We don't care what party they belong to. We can even file a suo motu case against them. But so far nothing of that sort has come up," he says. The SP, however, said the police would monitor the areas that are going to polls in the second phase on October 19. "We will strictly monitor the happenings in villages where the polling is to be held on October 19," he said.