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AIADMK ally to move court over EC decision to cancel Lok Sabha polls in Vellore
Shanmugam, news agency ANI reported, is planning to file a plea in the Madras High Court on Wednesday challenging the decision of the poll panel. Shanmugam, the founder of the New Justice Party, is in the fray on the election symbol of the AIADMK, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
AIADMK ally and Vellore candidate AC Shanmugam has said that he would challenge the Election Commission’s decision to cancel polling in Vellore Lok Sabha seat after huge amounts of cash were seized from a building in the constituency.
Shanmugam, news agency ANI reported, is planning to file a plea in the Madras High Court on Wednesday challenging the decision of the poll panel. Shanmugam, the founder of the New Justice Party, is in the fray on the election symbol of the AIADMK, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
The AIADMK, which is in power in Tamil Nadu, is in contesting the Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party for 40 parliamentary seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
Shanmugam is pitted against Kathir Anand, the son of Durai Murugan, who is the treasurer of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. Anand ismaking his electoral debut this Lok Sabha election from Vellore seat.
The cash seizure that led to cancellation of polling in Vellore took place from a warehouse owned by a close aide of Murugan. The Income Tax officials had raided the warehouse on March 30 and recovered ₹11.53 crore.
This was the biggest cash seizure from a single location till date in the election season. The Income Tax Department wrote to the poll panel giving details of the cash seized in the raid.
On the basis of the report from the Income Tax Department, the Election Commission recommended to President Ram Nath Kovind to cancell Lok Sabha polls in Vellore. Polling was scheduled for April 18.
