In unprecedented move, Election Commission cancels elections in Tamil Nadu's Aravakurichi, Thanjavur; sees red over Governor's request

CHENNAI: The Election Commission of India on Saturday announced the unprecedented move of canceling the election to two constituencies in Tamil Nadu. Polling in the two constituencies had already been postponed because of widespread distribution of cash to the voters. The EC also took exception to a request from Tamil Nadu Governor K Rosaiah that the elections be held early in the two constituencies.
"The Commission is satisfied that the election process in the two constituencies cannot be allowed to proceed and ought to be rescinded so that fresh elections may be conducted de-novo in these two constituencies when the atmosphere becomes conducive to the holding of free and fair elections after a reasonable lapse of time," read a statement signed by Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi and Election Commissioners AK Joti and OP Rawat.
The statement was released late on Friday, which was the deadline set by the Madras High Court for the announcement of election in the two constituencies.
"For the first time in electoral history of India, the Election Commission of India, based on reports of large-scale distribution of money and gifts to electors by the candidates and political parties in two Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu, has decided to rescind the notification and conduct elections afresh in due course of time," said Dhirendra Ojha, Director (Information) of the EC.
The EC also took exception to the request from the Tamil Nadu Governor, and said he should have avoided writing to them. Rosaiah had written to the EC on Thursday calling for elections to be held soon in the Thanjavur and Aravakurichi constituencies, saying the MLAs of these two seats would then be available to vote in the Rajya Sabha election slated for June 11. Six Rajya Sabha seats from the state will be up for grabs.
The Election Commissioners termed as an "extraneous consideration" the fact that two MLAs would be unavailable to vote in the Rajya Sabha election. The rationale the EC gave was that a legislator elected from these constituencies in the present circumstances could not be considered true representatives of the people.
The current electoral process has been seriously vitiated by instances of voter bribing and that fresh election would be conducted de-novo (anew) when the atmosphere becomes conducive, said the Election Commissioners. EC officials the EC's decision to cancel the election was based on reports of observers, special teams of central observers, reports of the special team of observers of Aravakurichi and Thanjavur and representations of contesting candidates of these two constituencies.