Coins allegedly distributed by independent candidate to bribe voters (News 18)
After voting, when some people went to pledge gold coins, they came to know that the coins were made of brass, not of gold.
- News18
- Last Update:12 October 2021, 23:55 IST
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In the Tamil Nadu rural local body elections, Independent candidates for allegedly distributing fake gold coins to bribe voters in Kolumanivakkam panchayat lost by a margin of 147 votes on Tuesday.
The Election Commission today voted for counting of votes in rural local bodies of nine reorganized districts in Tamil Nadu. Rural local body elections were held for 27,003 posts in nine districts in two phases – the first phase on October 6 and the second phase on October 9. During the election, there was an incident of an independent candidate- Sarathi Vinayagam who had contested for the post of Panchayat President of Kolumnivakkam Panchayat. Reportedly, during the second phase of polling, his supporters handed over gold coins to voters asking them to vote on the auto symbol (in which the charioteer contested).
After voting, when some people went to pawn the coins, they came to know that the coins were brass coins and not gold. Other candidates have demanded that action should be taken against those who fraudulently distribute coins to voters and conduct re-elections in the panchayat.
A person who belongs to Kolumanivakkam panchayat (a person who wanted to remain anonymous) claimed that “we felt guilty of being duped. We were suddenly called alone on the day of polling and two people secretly hid the coins in our hands claiming to be gold coins and asked them to vote. Not only me, but many people of my panchayat have also felt cheated and we have resolved not to sell our votes in future.
The second phase of polling in panchayats under the Kunrathur union was held on October 9, with over 2,500 voters in Kolumnivakkam panchayat. However, several independent candidates and candidates from political parties competed for the post of panchayat president and ward members.
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