The Election Commission of India (ECI) has informed the Madras High Court that it will soon take a decision regarding a complaint seeking the disqualification of Manickam Tagore, the Congress party candidate for the Virudhunagar Parliament constituency.
A division bench comprising Justice R Mahadevan and Justice Mohammed Shaffiq heard a petition filed by Sasikumar, the BJP Madurai West president, seeking the debarment or disqualification of Manickam Tagore from the parliamentary election. The petitioner alleged that Tagore violated the election model code of conduct by distributing money and guarantee cards to voters, promising benefits after the polls without proper authorization.
The counsel representing the ECI informed the court that the petitioner’s representation has been under consideration and assured that a decision would be reached within a week. Following this submission, the bench disposed of the petition.
Sasikumar contended that the distribution of guarantee cards by Manickam Tagore was in violation of electoral norms and sought the Election Commission’s intervention to disqualify him from the election. The petitioner also highlighted that a case had been registered in Virudhunagar regarding the distribution of these guarantee cards, but no action had been taken against Tagore thus far.
