PUDUCHERRY: The use of beacon light on the car of Chief minister N Rangasamy while arriving at the office of Returning officer during the filing of nominations for Indira Nagar bypoll was a violation of election code of conduct, said District Election Officer and Collector SB Deepak Kumar.Addressing a press conference on Tuesday along with SSP (Law and order) VJ Chandran, Deepak Kumar said use of siren and beacon lights on vehicles within 100 metres of the office of the Returning Officer was not permissible as per the guidelines of Election Commission. It was a violation under Motor Vehicles Act. When asked about the specific nature of the violation, DEO in consultation with SSP said that the matter has been referred to law department for legal opinion.However, the CM’s car inside the premises of the RO was not a violation as the EC allowed up to three cars within a distance of 100 metres from the office of RO, said Deepak Kumar The DEO further clarified that the Chief Minister bringing his party candidate in his car to file nomination was not a violation as claimed by political parties and others in their complaint, as the car was a private one.Using red light on a private car does not make it an official vehicle, said Deepak Kumar.The DEO said that other aspects in the complaints during filing of nominations against the chief minister and ruling party men were found to be false. The DEO said that video tapes of the nomination have been sent to the Election Commission of India.It may be recalled that the Congress and AIADMK has made complaints that the Chief Minister along with AINRC candidate barged into the chamber of the Returning Office while the RO was receiving the nomination papers from the Congress candidate. Not only that some members of the ruling party accompanying the candidate insisted that the RO receive the nomination papers of their candidate immediately.The DEO said that complaints with regard to distribution of cash from the Chief minister’s relief fund to influence voters has been enquired into and it has been found that the cash relief distribution from CM relief fund stopped on Sept 6.Regarding the alleged involvement of government employees in campaigning for the ruling party candidate in Indira Nagar by- poll, Deepak Kumar said that to identify the involvement of government employees, the video tapes would be hosted on the websites for heads of department to identify the members of their department and inform the Election department.
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