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'You are not on the voters' list'

Electoral lists and photo identity cards for voters have become a bone of contention in Tamil Nadu.

After an All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam member presented the photo identity cards of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and Union Industries Minister Murasoli Maran in the recently-concluded assembly session, comes the news of DMK treasurer and state Electricity Minister, Arcot N Veerasamy being told by poll officials that he may not be a voter for the upcoming assembly elections and hence may not be allowed to contest the poll.

The election law requires any candidate contesting either the parliamentary or state legislative polls be registered as a voter in any assembly constituency in the country.

The controversy has arisen with Election Commission officials sending out a letter to the minister, asking why his name and those of his family members should not be struck down from the voters' list for Anna Nagar assembly constituency in Madras. The letter, sent out by the district election office, claims that Veerasamy was not residing at the given address.

Interestingly, the minister has been residing at A-38, Anna Nagar for nearly two decades. He has not only cast his vote in all elections held since, but has also been a candidate in all assembly polls, citing the same address in his nomination papers. Incidentally, he is now the MLA representing Anna Nagar, and is a minister in the Karunanidhi cabinet only on that virtue.

State Electoral Officer, Mrithunjay Sarangi, told newsmen that there could have been some mix-up at the district-level office. He would look into the matter, Sarangi said. But he expressed doubts about Veerasamy's charge that 96,000 voters names had been struck down from the electoral lists for the Anna Nagar constituency.

"Such large numbers of deletions are not possible," Sarangi said. "Where there are complaints, we will look into it," he said.

Sarangi also held that the identity cards of Karunanidhi and Maran, produced by AIADMK legislator P R Sundaram, were genuine. He has now promised action against the guilty after detailed investigations.

However, Sarangi is non-committal on AIADMK supremo J Jayalalitha's request for paper-ballots in place of electronic voting machines in all 234 constituencies. "It is for the Election Commission to decide," he said.

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