 "DMK demands doubling paramilitary personnel deployment for fair repolling")
The DMK on Saturday demanded measures, including doubling the strength of paramilitary personnel, to ensure free and fair repolling in 13 polling stations in Tamil Nadu on May 19.
The main opposition party's Organisation Secretary and Rajya Sabha MP, R S Bharathi, in a memorandum to Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo, sought doubling the paramilitary personnel deployment in all the polling booths that will go to the repolls.
The DMK also wanted "arrangements to locate separate polling booths where Scheduled Caste people are residing, to enable them to cast their votes without fear and compulsion."
It should be ensured the Scheduled Caste people voted freely without any "control," by any "political party agents," the senior leader said in the memorandum, which was also sent to the Chief Election Commissioner in Delhi.
In Dharmapuri Lok Sabha segment, it was alleged that agents of a political party had cast the voes of elderly people on April 18.
The party also demanded steps like live video streaming and recording of poll process from its commencement till the sealing of EVMs and VVPATs.
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Appointing micro-observers in all booths, strict verification of voters' identity, replacing officials who were deployed on April 18 with new officers, preventing polling agents from contacting voters inside the polling centres were among the other demands.
"Take all preventive measures to ensure free and fair bypolls without any kind of electoral malpractices," the party said.
The Election Commission had days ago announced repolls in 13 polling stations in Tamil Nadu.
On May 9, Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo had cited votes of elderly people getting cast by party agents and mock poll data not being cleared before the start of election as among factors for ordering repoll.