General elections 2019: Madras HC reserves order on Vellore poll cancellation till 4.30 PM

The Madras High Court has reserved its orders on the Vellore Lok Sabha poll cancellation till 4.30 PM.

Earlier today, the AIADMK candidate for Vellore, AC Shanmugam had moved court seeking a stay on the Election Commission’s orders to cancel polling in the constituency. The orders were passed last night after large sums of cash were recovered from a location with alleged links to DMK candidate, DM Kathir Anand.

The AIADMK has maintained that in the event of the raids and subsequent discovery of cash, only the DMK candidate Anand must be barred from contesting elections.

Tamil Nadu chief minister E Palanisamy had spoken to reporters yesterday, saying that he hoped the Election Commission would withdraw its order. Shanmugam’s plea in court reflects this stance.

Meanwhile, DMK candidate Anand has also written to the Election Commission. In a strongly worded letter, Anand threatened legal action against the commission for cancellation of the polls, accusing it of acting on the behest of the ruling BJP.

Vellore and 38 other constituencies in Tamil Nadu were scheduled to vote on April 18, in the second phase of polling before the cancellation order was issued on Tuesday evening. Vellore was witness to a direct AIADMK-DMK faceoff with Shanmugam taking on DMK candidate, Anand.