The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday rubbished media reports which claimed that the EC may cancel the Lok Sabha elections in Vellore constituency in Tamil Nadu over alleged use of money to influence voters. In a statement issued, the EC has clarified that no order has been issued yet to cancel the Lok Sabha elections in Vellore which is scheduled to go on polls on 18th April.
Last month, the Income Tax department and the EC had raided DMK treasurer Durai Murugan’s residence in Vellore and reportedly seized a large amount of unaccounted cash. DMK is the alliance partner of Congress for Tamil Nadu and in their seat-sharing arrangement, the Vellore seat has gone to DMK.
Yesterday, many media outlets had reported that the EC wants the Vellore polls cancelled as the money recovered in the above raids could have been used to influence voters. The Indian Express report had claimed that on Monday the EC has recommended to President Kovind that the elections in Vellore be cancelled. The letter was received by President Kovind’s office on Monday night, the report says. “Rashtrapati Bhavan received the EC’s proposal Monday night. The recommendation, The Indian Express has learnt, will be shared with the Law Ministry for its views on Tuesday. However, cancellation is imminent since the President, in this case, has little choice but to accept the EC’s proposal,” The Indian Express report said.
The Indian Express report was then curated by leftist propaganda websites like The Scroll and The Wire. Many other publications like The Hindustan Times and News18 among others had also carried the report that Vellore Lok Sabha elections may be cancelled.
The EC’s official spokesperson, Sheyphali Saran has clarified that no such order of cancellation of elections has been issued yet.
Update: In an update late last evening, the Election Commission has written to the President of India recommending cancellation of polls in Vellore following the massive cash haul.
