'I did not lose my cool even once over parties' protests against me'

This has been a tough election for Tamil Nadu chief electoral officer Rajesh Lakhoni. The big challenge was in checking voter bribing with allegations flying thick and fast against the two main Dravidian parties. Caught in the maelstrom, the CEO faces charges from political parties that he had not done enough to prevent distribution of money to voters in the run up to the assembly election.Tamil Nadu enjoys the dubious distinction of making record seizures of unaccounted money. On poll eve as accusations of voter bribing got more strident, Lakhoni spoke to B Sivakumar.
What was your toughest moment so far after taking over as CEO in November last?
There have been complaints against the Election Commission and myself of not being neutral and some parties and their cadres have protested against us. These were my tough moments, but during all these times, I did not lose my cool even once.
Are all arrangements in place for polling tomorrow? What are the issues worrying you?
The number of polling booths have been increased to 66,007. In many polling booths, especially in Chennai city, we have provided facilities like shelter, drinking water, rest rooms and wheel chairs for senior citizens and disabled people. Heavy rain forecast in southern districts is a worrying factor. Officials with EVMs are travelling to remote locations, especially in hilly areas. In such areas, officials are carrying EVMs on cycles, travelling several kms on foot and also reaching destinations on horse back.
How are the security arrangements in the state, especially in Chennai?
We have increased security in polling booths categorised as vulnerable. There are 298 booths in Greater Chennai which have been identified as vulnerable and in an additional 1,360 booths, central armed police force are being deployed. Similarly, in other districts too, additional security has been provided in sensitive booths.
We have had a record seizure of cash this election. Has this stopped money distribution by parties before May 16?
So far more than Rs 104 crore has been seized in the state since March 4. We returned Rs 48 crore. We were able to seize so much money only because of help from income tax department and information technology. It would not have been possible without them. While income tax department was involved in raids and seizure of money, information technology helped us to track complaints and also helped parties to file their complaints online. So far, 101 first information reports have been registered against people, who were involved in distribution of money and 90 have been arrested.