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Vellore Polls Cancelled On EC Recommendation After Cash Seizure

Vellore, which was scheduled to vote with the rest of Tamil Nadu on Thursday, is the first Lok Sabha seat to have its elections cancelled over abuse of money power.
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The Lok Sabha polls in Vellore constituency in Tamil Nadu have been cancelled after President Ram Nath Kovind accepted the recommendations of the Election Commission.

The decision came after a large sum of cash was allegedly seized from the DMK candidate’s office a few days ago. The commission cited the suspected use of money power to influence voters in its recommendation.

The district police had filed a complaint against DMK candidate Kathir Anand as well as two party functionaries on the basis of a report from the Income Tax department on 10 April.

Anand was charged under the Representation of the People Act for giving “wrong information” in his election affidavit filed along with his nomination papers, the police said. The other two, identified as Srinivasan and Damodaran, were booked under bribery charges.

Vellore was scheduled to vote with the rest of Tamil Nadu on 18 April. It will be the first Lok Sabha seat to have had its elections countermanded over abuse of money power, according to The Indian Express.

Since the president signs the notification for Lok Sabha elections, it is he who rescinds it.

(With PTI inputs)

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.