The Election Commission has recommended to President Ram Nath Kovind that elections in the Vellore parliamentary constituency scheduled to be held on Thursday be cancelled,  reported. The poll panel cited the suspected use of money to influence voters.
It is not clear whether bye-elections in two Assembly seats – Ambur and Gudiyattam – under the Vellore Lok Sabha seat will also be countermanded or go as planned on Thursday. The Rashtrapati Bhavan reportedly received the poll body’s proposal to cancel polls in the seat on Monday night and it will be shared with the Law Ministry on Tuesday.
According to Hindustan Times, the Election Commission will take a decision on Tuesday whether elections in Vellore should be cancelled based on a report from the Tamil Nadu chief electoral officer. “The Election Commission will take a call on whether the election atmosphere has been vitiated,” an unidentified official said.
If notified by the president, Vellore will be the first Lok Sabha seat where elections have been countermanded over abuse of money power, according to The Indian Express.
The poll body’s recommendation to cancel elections in Vellore came in the wake of Income Tax officials seizing Rs 15.13 crore cash from the house of Poonjolai Srinivasan, a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam functionary, who is believed to be a close associate of DMK Treasurer Durai Murugan in Vellore district, according to