DMK blames Election Commission, AIADMK's malpractices for defeat

CHENNAI: DMK today alleged that use of money, muscle power and misuse of official machinery by the ruling AIADMK were responsible for the party's worst-ever performance in the recent Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu, where it drew a blank.

A brainstorming session of the party's high level working committee chaired by party supremo M Karunanidhi held that the alleged connivance of electoral authorities with the ruling party and the partisan manner with which the Election Commission acted also contributed to the debacle of its candidates in all 39 constituencies.

The party decided to set up a committee to suggest ways to restructure its district units, in an attempt to galvanise the party for effective functioning.

The committee will also have the task of identifying deficiencies noticed during the just concluded Parliamentary elections and recommend corrective measures.

The meeting was attended by General Secretary Anbazhagan, Karunanidhi's son and party Treasurer M K Stalin, who led the party campaign, Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi, district secretaries and other senior party functionaries.

The DMK alleged that the Election Commission did not act on the spate of complaints of irregularities, it made out against the ruling party and imposed ban orders on the eve of voting to facilitate the ruling party to distribute cash to voters, besides creating panic among electors.

Targeting the entire state administration and Election Commission, the party, in a resolution charged, "The Chief Electoral Officer is shedding crocodile tears by saying they could not control money distribution completely. The entire state knows that ruling AIADMK was in the backdrop of cash distribution," it said.

To assess the causes behind its poor show, the party decided to call for reports from its candidates and polling agents in every constituency by June 15 outlining what went wrong.