Amidst reports of violence coming from various parts of Tamil Nadu, a division bench of Madras High Court has dismissed a petition seeking a stay on the co-operative societies’ elections in Tamil Nadu, reports PTI,
The court said it would not interfere as the election process was underway.
The petition, among other things, said nearly 95 per cent of the members of the societies belonged to the ruling party, who had enrolled themselves through pre-dated forms. The court therefore should stay the 12th March notification and ensure proper enrollment of members, the petition added.
Defending its position, the government told the court all standard norms are being followed and there is no justification for demanding a stay.
Last month, the cooperative Election body had announced the schedule for electing the office-bearers for cooperative societies across Tamil Nadu.
Taking exception to irregularities in cooperative elections in Tamil Nadu, opposition DMK has sought state governor Banwarilal Purohit’s intervention in the matter. The party has also called for deferring the polls until irregularities are set right, reported Hindu.
DMK has complained about the officials not even receiving the nominations filed by its candidates. CPI(M) State secretary K. Balakrishnan accused the officials of conniving with the ruling party and rejecting the nominations filed by opposition parties.
Opposition parties have accused the Tamil Nadu State Co-operatives Election Commission of taking any action and violating the rules and regulations of the electoral process.
The story of co-operative elections, it seems are same everywhere-those in power do not allow the weak candidates even to file nominations. What happened in UP is being witnessed in Tamil Nadu and unless the 97th Constitutional Amendment is implemented co-op elections would not be fair, opine experts.