Just 21 of 1,375 in Ekanapuram reach booth; ARO's visit to village sparks stir

AMIDST the ongoing protests against the proposed Parandur green airport project, only 21 out of the 1,375 eligible voters in Kancheepuram district's Ekanapuram village took part in the voting process on Friday.

- S GURUVAMIKANATHAN & S KUMARESAN

Upon visiting the village, TNIE witnessed tense arguments between the villagers and officials, including Assistant Returning Officer (ARO) and Sriperumbudur Tahsildar Sundaramurthy.

The villagers alleged that the ARO visited the village assistant Ezhilarasan's family on Friday and urged them to cast their votes, which is in violation of the ECI regulation that among other activities, no campaigning to increase polling should also be taken up after Wednesday evening.

A polling booth was set up at the panchayat union school in Ekanapuram, and voting commenced promptly at 7 am. By noon, only 10 voters, mostly government employees, had cast their votes. Upset over the poor turnout, the ARO personally visited Ezhilarasan's house and attempted to persuade his family to turn up at the booth.

This irked the villagers and they picked up an argument with the ARO and said that he had no right to enter the houses of the residents.