CHENNAI: CPM state secretary P Shanmugam on Thursday alleged that political parties were distributing cash to voters ahead of the Oct 6 bypolls in Tamil Nadu, claiming that villagers had told Left front campaigners that the ruling TVK was paying more money than other parties do. He demanded that the Election Commission look into the “confessional statement of the voters” and that political party leaders respond to the issue.Shanmugam said the widespread distribution of cash came to light when Left front leaders and cadres visited villages in Madurantakam assembly constituency to distribute pamphlets explaining why voters should support their candidates in the bypolls. “Villagers told us that all political parties were distributing cash for votes, with the ruling TVK paying the highest amount. They were also asking us for money,” he said and described it “a confessional statement of the voters” on the prevailing cash-for-vote culture and how the TVK was leading in this front.TVK president and chief minister C Joseph Vijay had promised during the April assembly election campaign that his party would not distribute money to buy votes. He had reiterated the pledge during his bypoll campaigns, but the situation on the ground was different, Shanmugam said. Taking a dig at Vijay’s description of TVK as a “thuyia sakthi” (pure force), Shanmugam said the party should explain the alleged cash distribution.Shanmugam was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a statewide protest demanding the removal of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar for allegedly acting “unilaterally and unlawfully” without consulting the other two election commissioners.CPI state secretary M Veerapandian echoed the same and said, “We found that members of other political parties are taking headcounts of voters in the two constituencies to distribute cash to them.”When reporters asked about the Left parties’ allegations against its ally TVK, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president Manickam Tagore said the ruling party had already made it clear that it was opposed to the practice of distributing cash for votes. He alleged that the DMK and AIADMK were competing with each other to bribe voters, who, in turn, would take the money and vote for TVK.
