Chennai: Following complaint, the Tamil Nadu state election commission has directed the district collectors to take stringent action to curb ‘auction’ of panchayat president posts. The election commission has announced the rural local body elections in the newly formed nine districts in the state on October 6 and 9.
According to a report in IANS, incidents of auctioning of president posts in village panchayats and councillor posts in the panchayat union wards were being reported in the state for the past few days.
The report said that in certain villages, people have decided to reach a consensus on a candidate and at some other villages, cash for votes were also reported. The report further said that prominent people had been participating in the auctioning for the president post of Ulagalapadi village panchayat in Sankarapuram panchayat union in Kallakurichi district and Ponnankuppam village panchayat in Gingee panchayat union of Villupuram district.
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According to the report, apart from the president posts, two councillor posts were also auctioned in panchayat union wards of Melamalaiyanur in Villupuram district.
Meanwhile, the report said that political parties had opposed the auctioning of posts and urged the state election commission to take stringent action against such practices.
Speaking to IANS, DMK leader RS Bharathi said that such practices should be curtailed at the grassroots level and the district administration should take stringent action against those indulging in such practices. BJP leader H Raja had also urged the commission to take steps to bring an end to such practices.