Centre, Tamil Nadu governments have 'tied' hands of EC "from behind": Stalin

CHENNAI: DMK president MK Stalin Monday charged the Central and Tamil Nadu governments with having "tied" the hands of the Election Commission of India (ECI) "from behind" and urged his partymen to keep a vigil on May 23 when votes polled in the

Lok Sabha elections

will be counted.


The BJP and AIADMK "will go to any extent in their quest for power" and DMK workers and agents should mount additional vigil on Thursday during counting of votes, he said.

"The Central (BJP) and state (AIADMK) governments, who have tied the hands of the EC from behind, will go to any extent in their quest for power.

Though they know the people of Tamil Nadu are very angry against them, they are planning to prevent the victory of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance and are issuing orders to officials," Stalin said in a statement.

He said DMK agents should reach the counting centres well ahead of time and ensure all arrangements were in place and also make sure that the EVM seals are proper.

They should also ensure that the polled votes and the ones counted matched and seek redressal if they come across any anomalies, Stalin said.

"We should not ignore the warnings issued by various opposition parties about the possible

EVM frauds

," he added.

"Our counting centre agents, party district secretaries and candidates should be extra vigilant during every round of counting," he added.

Earlier, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, TMC supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her Karnataka counterpart HD Kumaraswami had questioned the EVMs.

Elections to 542 of the 543 seats were held in seven phases starting April 11 and had concluded on Sunday.

Election to the Vellore Lok Sabha seat was rescinded after recovery of a huge amount of cash, allegedly from an associate of a DMK leader.