Former Tamil Nadu minister KR Periyakaruppan has approached the Madras High Court after losing his constituency by a single vote to a candidate from actor-turned-chief minister C Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).
Periyakaruppan, from the former ruling party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), sought an interim injunction to prevent TVK’s Seenivasa Sethupathy from taking oath or participating in assembly proceedings, which convened this morning for the first time after the polls.
However, the Madras High Court reserved its order today after the Election Commission of India (ECI) told the bench it had no jurisdiction to intervene once results were declared, even over the disputed postal ballot that Periyakaruppan is relying on.
According to Indian media reports, the ECI argued that no objections were raised during counting and that its role effectively ends once results are formally announced.
Senior counsel G Rajagopalan, appearing for the ECI, also told the court that no evidence had been produced to support the claim that a postal ballot was mistakenly sent to the wrong Tiruppattur constituency.
The commission further said the allegation rested solely on the account of an election agent and that even the existence of the alleged error had not been substantiated.
Periyakaruppan’s lawyers, Mukul Rohatgi and NR Elango, argued that their client had contested the seat since 2006 and had won every election since then.
They said that a single misdirected postal vote - sent to a similarly named constituency- had ultimately cost him victory by just one vote.
Vijay was sworn in as chief minister yesterday after days of suspense in a fractured verdict. His TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member assembly - short of the 118 needed for a majority.
The deadlock was eventually broken when the Indian National Congress (Congress), along with Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM [M]) , Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), extended support to TVK, allowing Vijay to edge past the majority line and into office. - Mkini
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