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Candidates use promissory notes,couriers to evade EC 

R Vasundara | TNN 

Chennai: DMK functionary D Shankar (name changed) has never taken a loan in his life,but now he owes a few lakhs to hundreds of people in the constituency where he is canvassing.With the Election Commission (EC) cracking down on distribution of cash to bribe voters,some candidates have decided to fight the Tamil Nadu assembly elections using credit.So each day,Shankar hands out promissory notes while urging residents in a designated locality to support his candidate.We cant be seen carrying money as we are being tailed by officials all the time, he said.We explain to each voter that we cant give them anything now because the EC is watching us.
Like a cloak and dagger game,politicians are finding ingenious ways to skirt the restrictions imposed by the EC,be it in money distribution,auditing or transport.The latest is the use of courier services,claimed an AIADMK functionary from Harbour constituency who did not want to be named.
I got a tip-off from a cop that a major party will be distributing money through courier services in Chennai on Saturday and Sunday, he told TOI.They have already made deals with two courier services,who have been provided a voter list.Each packet will contain currency folded inside a letter and addressed to the head of the family. 
In other areas,party functionaries are doling out discount coupons to be redeemed at a specific store.In one constituency in southern TN,residents answered a knock on the door only to find party activists posing as salesmen and offering to deliver a home appliance after the polls,provided their candidate won.With barely two days to go for voting,parties are clearly resorting to desperate measures to gain an edge.
The EC,which has until now seized Rs 42 crore in cash across the state through vehicle checks and raids,feels that despite all its efforts to curb money power in these polls,the task remains daunting.

Panel may put off polls in some areas 



R Satyanarayana | TNN 

Chennai: The Election Commission may consider postponement of elections in some segments in Tamil Nadu where distribution of cash and gifts to lure voters has been on a large scale,according to high-level sources.
In a strongly worded press note on Sunday,TN chief electoral officer Praveen Kumar said: The EC has viewed it (distribution of cash and gifts) with serious concern as not conducive to free and fair polls.The EC is watching the situation closely and in case the incidents are repeated,it shall be constrained to take stern measures as may become necessary. 
According to the sources,the stern measures proposed by the panel may include putting off polls in certain constituencies.
Praveen Kumar said criminal action would be taken against those indulging in malpractices.In all-party meetings,political parties had pleaded with the Election Commission of India to take stringent measures to curb misuse of money power in elections.The commission has taken a number of measures, said the officer.