DMK requests EC to hold by-elections along with LS polls

Chennai, Feb 8 (IANS) DMK President M.K. Stalin has requested the Election Commission of India (ECI) to hold the by-elections to the 21 vacant Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu along with the Lok Sabha polls.

In a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa on Thursday, Stalin said as per media reports the poll body plans to notify the general elections in seven stages sometime in April.

"We, therefore, request the ECI to hold elections to the 21 Assembly seats along with election to the 39 parliamentary seats in Tamil Nadu, since it would save valuable time of the voters, the ECI and government staff and also ease the burden on the public exchequer," Stalin said in his letter.

"Since the 21 Assembly seats form part of some of the 39 parliamentary constituencies, it would be easy to enforce election related guidelines including the model code of conduct and staff deployed for the parliamentary elections can be utilised without wastage of resources," he added.

In another letter to Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P. Dhanapal and Chief Election Commissioner Arora, the DMK leader urged them to declare the Hosur Assembly constituency as vacant.

Stalin said P.Balakrishna Reddy who was elected to the Assembly from Hosur was convicted by a special court in an arson and causing damage to public property case.

Reddy was sentenced to three years imprisonment.

The DMK President added that the Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker has not taken any steps to formally notify the Hosur constituency as vacant and intimate the ECI.