Chennai: Peeved at the pre-poll transfer of
officials by the Election Commission, Tamil Nadu Chief
Minister and DMK President M Karunanidhi on Tuesday slammed its
actions, including `unilateral` shift of the DGP and district
officials and vehicle searches to detect unaccounted cash.
Flaying the EC for the second time since the election
schedule for Tamil Nadu Assembly poll was announced, he said
`honest` police officials and district collectors were
transferred just because of AIADMK`s complaints.
The EC did not even bother to consult the state government
on the transfers, he said three days after six IPS officers,
including DGP Letika Saran, ADGP (Intelligence) Jaffer Sait
and Suburban Commissioner of Police S R Jangid, and four
district collectors were ordered to be shifted by the EC.
Referring to vehicle checks by flying squads which have
yielded crores of unaccounted money so far, Karunanidhi
alleged the action had totally crippled trade as cash was
seized on the plea that no proper documents were produced.
So far, no politician had been caught during the searches,
he said.
The Commission had also "banned display" of statues of
leaders and instructed the authorities to keep them under
cover till April 13, he said.
"We cannot understand the reasons behind the EC`s action.
When the political parties asked for the postponment of
voting, the EC said no. Why is there a gap of one month from
the date of polling and counting?` he said.
Soon after the schedule was announced, Karunanidhi had
questioned the long gap between polling and counting dates.
PTI
