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Wednesday, June 5, 2013

TN Rajya Sabha Polls - June 27,2013


The Election Commission on Tuesday June 4,2013announced the schedule for elections to 6 Rajya Sabha seats from Tamil Nadu at a time when no opposition party has enough legislators to elect a candidate on its own.

According to a press note issued by the Election Commission on Tuesday, the poll, if necessary, will be held on June 27. It will be notified on June 10, the day on which filing of nomination papers will begin. Aspirants can file papers up to June 17.

The election follows six members — A. Elavarasan and V. Maitreyan (both AIADMK); Kanimozhi and Tiruchi N. Siva (DMK); B.S. Gnanadesikan (Congress) and D. Raja (Communist Party of India) — completing their term on July 24,2013

Normally, the number of nominations filed will be equal to the number of vacancies and voting is rarely held.

With the AIADMK strength of 151 members in a House of 234 elected members, the party is well placed to grab at least four seats out of a total of

5 AIADMK candidates file papers for RS polls -Wednesday June 12,2013

The five All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections from Tamil Nadu filed their nomination papers on Wednesday
The five candidates are -
  • V. Maitreyan
  • K. Thangamuthu
  • T.Rathinavel
  • K.R.Arjunan and
  • R. Lakshmanan

DMK's Kanimozhi files nomination for Rajya Sabha polls


 

Seeking a second consecutive term in Rajya Sabha, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Member of Parliament Kanimozhi filed her nomination papers on Saturday June 15,2013

In an affidavit along with her nomination, she declared -

the value of total moveable assets at Rs.16.67 crore. The approximate current market price of the commercial building – a self acquired property – that she has on Anna Salai, Chennai, was pegged at Rs.10 crore.
Compared to her declaration at the time of Rajya Sabha election in June, 2007, this is significantly higher.  Fixed deposit for Rs.6.4 crore, two savings bank accounts totalling about Rs.18.48 lakh, a Toyota Camry worth Rs.18.7 lakh. The commercial building was valued at Rs.1.61 crore.

On Saturday, the two sets of nominations she filed before the Returning Officer and Tamil Nadu Assembly Secretary A.M.P. Jamaludeen said fixed deposits and money in savings bank accounts in her name totalled Rs.12.40 crore. Her shareholding in West Gate Logistics is valued at Rs.5 lakh and she also has got 24,50,000 bonus shares in the company. 

Ms.Kanimozhi holds 2.02 lakh shares in Kalaignar TV whose value is a little over Rs.2 crore. She also cited Rs.1.31 crore as receivable from her mother Rajathi Ammal. 

With regard to automobiles, Kanimozhi owns a Range Rover and Toyota Altis, whose value was given as around Rs.78 lakh. She owns 700 grams of gold, 240 grams from her 2007 declaration. There is no change with regard to diamonds in her possession. They remain at 10 carats and valued Rs 18 lakh. 

Ms.Kanimozhi, who is an accused in the 2G spectrum case, said there was one pending case in which charges have been framed by the court for offences punishable with imprisonment for two years or more. 


CPI re-nominates D. Raja for Rajya Sabha -Sunday June 16,2013

 

The Communist Party of India (CPI) on Sunday named its national council secretary D. Raja as the candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls from Tamil Nadu.
The party’s general secretary S. Sudhakar Reddy, who was here to attend the state executive committee meeting, said the party had decided to re-nominate Mr Raja, whose tenure has come to an end. His name was proposed by the Central Executive committee and the state executive meeting endorsed it. Mr Raja will file his nomination on Monday June 17,2013


CPI leaders meet J Jayalalithaa to seek support to D. Raja  -Monday June 17,2013

Jayalalithaa withdraws candidate in favour of D. Raja

A day after the CPI made an open appeal to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to support its candidate D. Raja in the Rajya Sabha polls, she announced that one of her party’s nominees, K. Thangamuthu, would withdraw his papers in favour of D Raja. 

In a statement here on Monday, she said following a request from CPI general secretary S. Sudhakar Reddy, former general secretary A.B. Bardhan, and State secretary D. Pandian, the AIADMK parliamentary board decided to support Mr. Raja’s candidature

Note

The AIADMK has 151 MLAs in the Assembly. The CPI and CPI (M) together have 18 members, and the All India Forward Bloc one. These 170 votes are enough to ensure that the AIADMK’s four candidates and Mr. Raja get the required 34 votes each 

 

DMDK seeks Cong. support

DMDK candidate A.R. Elangovan files his nomination for the Rajya Sabha election at the Secretariat on Monday June 17,2013

 

A day after DMDK, the main opposition party, entered the fray for the June 27 biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu, the party approached the Congress seeking support for its candidate.
“Five DMDK MLAs met me and gave me a letter, which requested Congress support for their candidate in the RS polls. I have forwarded the letter to Delhi... party high command will take a decision on it,” Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president B.S. Gnanadesikan told

Note
  • DMDK has 29 members in the 234-seat Assembly, seven of them are considered dissidents
  • DMDK and the DMK are now set to fight for the sixth seat in the polls

Suspended DMDK MLAs Move Madras HC 

 

The six DMDK MLAs — V.C. Chandhira Kumar, P. Parthasarthi, T. Murugesan, K. Nallathambi, S. Senthilkumar and R. Arulselvam — have filed a petition in the Madras High Court on Tuesday seeking direction from the court for allowing them to vote in the RS poll on June 27,2013
They also challenged the order of the single judge of the High Court who had earlier dismissed their petition that challenged the Speaker’s order suspending them from the House.
The First Bench headed by Acting Chief Justice R.K. Agrawal has ordered notice to the Secretary of the Legislative Assembly and posted the matter for further hearing on June 24,2013

Note
  • The MLAs of DMDK were suspended on March 25, 2013, for a year by Speaker P. Dhanapal, accepting the findings of the Assembly privileges committee and after getting the nod of the House, for allegedly assaulting their fellow MLA from Radhapuram Michael Rayappan, during the Assembly proceedings on Feb 8,2013.
  •  Later, the punishment was reduced to six months by the House. 

 

MMK to supportDMK in TN Rajya Sabha polls 

The Manidhaneya Makkal Katchi(MMK) which has two members in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, on Wednesday June 19,2013 extended its support to DMK candidate Kanimozhi in the June 27 biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu.
“We met DMK chief M. Karunanidhi and extended our support in the RS polls,” MMK leader M.H. Jawahirullah said.
MMK has two members — Mr. Jawahirullah (Ramanathapuram) and Aslam Basha (Ambur) in the Assembly.
Asked why his party chose to support the DMK despite being part of the AIADMK alliance in the 2011 Assembly elections,MMK leader M.H. Jawahirullah said, “We do not want to waste our votes in the RS polls, when AIADMK’s four candidates and CPI’s Raja have enough votes to secure their seats. So, we are supporting the DMK candidate.”

 TN will witness contest in RS elections after 17 years


In February 1996, the State saw a contest when Peter Alphonse of Congress was elected to the Rajya Sabha. As witnessed now, there were 7 candidates, including the AIADMK’s 5 and the rebel Congress group’s nominee – M. Udayabhanu. Finally, all the 5 nominees of the AIADMK won.  

In July 1983, P. Ramamurthi of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) lost to G.K. Moopanar of the Congress. In that election, Aladi Aruna, who was then in the AIADMK, and Murasoli Maran of the DMK were among the prominent winners. In total, four AIADMK nominees and one each from the DMK and the Congress won

In March 1984, when Ms. Jayalalithaa was elected to the House of Elders, Arcot N. Veeraswami, DMK’s second candidate and who later became Minister in the DMK government, was defeated.Four AIADMK members and the DMK’s V. Gopalaswami, now known as Vaiko, were declared winners. For the sixth seat, the Congress’ K.V. Thangkabalu posted victory in the third count with 30 votes


The State will witness a contest in the Rajya Sabha elections after a gap of 17 years. As the deadline for withdrawal of nomination papers came to an end at 3 p.m. on Thursday June 20,2013 the poll authorities announced that there were 7 candidates in the fray for 6seats. 

The candidates are -
  • K.R. Arjunan(AIADMK)
  • R. Lakshmanan(AIADMK)
  • V. Maitreyan (AIADMK)
  • T. Rathinavel (AIADMK)
  • Kanimozhi  (DMK)

  • D. Raja (CPI) and 

  • A. R. Elangovan (DMDK)


A press release issued by Returning Officer and Assembly Secretary A.M.P. Jamaludeen stated that poll would take place on June 27 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. The results would be announced around 5 p.m. the same day

PMK to Boycott Rajya Sabha Polls -Friday June 21,2013
The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), which has three MLAs in the Assembly, on Friday decided to boycott the Rajya Sabha polls
On Friday, the PMK’s executive committee meeting decided to abstain from the elections, reiterating the party’s earlier stand that it would seek to form an alternative front to the Dravidian parties in the State

AIADMK surplus votes will decide Kanimozhi’s fate

A winning candidate should secure 3,301 points. As the front(AIADMK front includes the CPI;CPI(M) & Forward Bloc) has a strength of 170 Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA) and given that each valid vote carries 100 points, the AIADMK front’s five candidates will be able to get 17,000 points, even though the requisite value is 16,505 (3,301 x 5)

DMK candidate Kanimozhi, who is now assured of the support of 27 MLAs [or 2,700 points], may not be able to retain her seat even if five Congress MLAs choose to support her

DMDK’s candidate A. R. Elangovan, who technically enjoys the support of 29 MLAs [or 2,900 points], can get through if the AIADMK front decides to transfer its surplus of four votes or 495 points to him. This will take his tally to 3,395 points

Vijayakant seeks support from all 29 DMDK MLAs 

DMDK leader Vijayakant has written to his party MLAs, including seven dissidents, to vote for the party candidate A.R. Elangovan.

DMDK’s whip, V.C. Chandhirakumar, has sent similar requests to all 29 MLAs since whip cannot be issued in the Rajya Sabha polls

 

Madras HC Permits 6 DMDK MLAs to vote in Rajya Sabha polls - Monday June 24,2013


The MLAs, V.C. Chandhira Kumar, P.Parthasarathi, T.Murugesan, K.Nallathambi, S.Senthilkumar and R.Arulselvan, had challenged their suspension before the Madras High Court

By an order of June 5, a single Judge dismissed the writ petition stating that there was no merit in the petitioners’ contention.

Aggrieved, the legislators filed appeals and they were pending. They filed a petition seeking an interim order to enable them to participate in the elections

In a letter to the Chief Electoral Officer, Tamil Nadu, on May 15, the Election Commission had said the suspended MLAs still continued to be the elected MLAs and formed part of the electoral college for elections to the Rajya Sabha. They were eligible to vote in the coming biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha.  This was brought to the notice of the First Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice R. K. Agrawal and Justice M. Sathyanarayanan on Monday. The court ordered that the six should be permitted to vote

Congress to support DMK's Kanimozhi in Rajya Sabha polls

The Congress on Tuesday announced its support to DMK candidate Kanimozhi in the Rajya Sabha polls from Tamil Nadu. The decision signals a possible revival of ties between Congress and its erstwhile ally, which had walked out of the United Progressive Alliance and the coalition government three months ago over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue

A statement from TNCC president B,S. Gnanadesikan said AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik, who is in charge of the party’s affairs in Tamil Nadu, conveyed the decision to him over phone. 

The Congress has 5 members in the State Assembly. 

In the TN Legislative Assembly of 234 MLAs, the DMK has 23 members and has already roped in the Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK) and the Puthiya Tamizhagam (PT), two small parties that have two members each .With the support of Congress,the number of legislators supporting her increases to 32

The numbers have greatly increased the victory prospects of Ms. Kanimozhi, as the rival for the seat, the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), candidate A.R. Elangovan, cannot raise his support beyond 29, even if all seven dissident MLAs in his party, cast their votes in his favour, going by the stand of the parties as on date. 

 

 

 

 

 

 




 




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