Coimbatore: All the 13 candidates who unsuccessfully contested from the city corporation ward 32 have challenged the DMK candidate’s victory and sought a re-election, stating the seal of an electronic voting machine (EVM) was broken. They have petitioned the district collector and other officials separately in this regard.
DMK’s R Parthiban was elected from the ward after securing 5,330 votes, while AIADMK’s P Murugababu came second with 2,488 votes. All the remaining 12 candidates have lost their deposit amount.
BJP candidate J Buvaneswaran said the seal of one of the EVMs was broken when it was brought to the counting table. When the candidates questioned the same, he said, there was no proper reply from officials. He said they also had objected to counting votes from another EVM, which was sealed along with a document that featured signatures of booth agents. The booth agents, however, said they hadn’t put their signatures on the document.
“Officials were partial in conducting the election. We wanted the counting to be stopped, but they went ahead and declared the results. We have urged the district collector to nullify the election in ward 32 and conduct re-election. He has assured us to look into the matter,” Buvaneswaran said.
P Maheshwaran, an independent candidate, said the officials should have opened the EVMs in the presence of candidates. “But 12 EVMs were opened in the first round when we went to check postal votes.”
Meanwhile, the Saibaba Colony police have registered two separate cases against the candidates and their booth agents based on a complaint from assistant returning officer Karupathal for staging demonstrations at the vote counting centre and preventing officials from doing their duty.