RK Nagar by-poll: EC to take tech help to ensure fairness, but voters sceptical

Election officials monitoring preparations at RK Nagar say many “unprecedented” steps are being taken for the forthcoming elections, eight months after the commission announced it was cancelling the scheduled elections for the same constituency on account of extensive distribution of cash to win votes.

For the first time, vehicle passes will be handed out. At twelve key entry points into the constituency, poll officials, observers, and armed personnel will stand sentry to check and allow vehicles that belong in the constituency. Details of campaign vehicles and cars used by partymen and supporters or candidates need to be submitted with the returning officer and expenditure for such arrangements need to reflect in the candidates’ final tally. “We conducted a survey. There are 23,000 two-wheelers and 1,600 cars that belong there (RK Nagar). Any other car, of course, can come in as it’s a free country. But, they need to be accounted for. These passes are to be distributed now,” D Karthikeyan, District Election Officer and the Chennai Corporation Commissioner, told ET.

Campaigning will be a 9 a.m.-5 p.m. affair. Nearly 225 cameras are deployed at various points in the constituency which will webcast real-time proceedings during the poll. All 256 booths across 50 locations are being treated “hyper-sensitive.”


Observers — two from the police and two each to track general details and expenditure-related information — will go on rounds in the constituency. Responding to the complaint that the observers are not conversant in Tamil, they will have assistance from liaison officers who are locals. Companies from the Central Reserve Police Force boasting 1,000 personnel will be deployed as the campaigning begins.

Another dimension is the digital radar to curb electronic bribery. “We have held discussions with bankers who have branches in RK Nagar and digital wallet company Paytm. If we get wind of large suspicious large deposits in these accounts, we will track the destination, then the source and if found to be illegal we can take action under Representation of the People Act,” said Karthikeyan.

Residents of RK Nagar say the enforcements appear more sincere this time, but add that the crucial week has yet to arrive. Nagaraj S, who works as an assistant for filmmaking crews in the city and a resident of the constituency, said: “As of now, they are checking the vehicles entering the constituency and started fitting cameras. With the arrangements so far, I would say I am still sceptical about how far the commission will go in curbing malpractices.”