Jaya’s thumb under question mark?

The Madras High Court has  ordered the Principal Secretary of the Election Commission of India to depose before it on October 6 in connection with affixing of the thumb impression on poll documents by late Chief Minister and AIADMK General Secretary J. Jayalalithaa while she was in hospital last year.  The senior Election Commission official would submit the documents relating to the permission given for the thumb impression of Jayalalithaa and how it is in line with with the provisions of the Representation of Peoples Act and also the election conduct rules.
DMK’s candidate P. Saravanan had approached the court to cancel the election of AIADMK’s A.K. Bose from the Thirupparankundram Assembly constituency in the by-election held last year raising doubts on affixing of the thumb impression by Jayalalithaa in his poll documents.
Jayalalithaa who was in Apollo Hospitals during October 2016 had an inflamed right hand as she had undergone tracheostomy.  She had to affix her left thumb impression in the poll documents submitted by an AIADMK candidate.  As per the Representation of People Act, a candidate contesting on behalf of a political party has to submit Form B, where their party’s leader has to authorise the candidate to contest under the party’s election symbol.  The by-polls in Aravakurichi, Thanjavur and Thiruparankundram assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu were slated for November 19 and the ruling AIADMK candidates had filed their papers.  The three AIADMK candidates submitted their papers on October 28 to the Returning Officers.  The thumb impression of Jayalalithaa was attested by a government doctor – P.Balaji, Professor of Minimal Access Surgery, Madras Medical College.