102-yr-olds election declared void

MADURAI: For 102-year-old Thadahathi Ammal, the joy of victory was short-lived. On Friday, she stood tall among the newly elected ward members of Pudukulam panchayat not just because she won, but for her age. But a day after the polls, her election was declared void by the panchayat union officials and rival candidate Manimaran was announced the winner. “The government officials took back my election certificate on October 22 stating that the collector wanted to felicitate me and give the certificate in person. But I never thought they will cheat me,” a shocked Thadahathi said.  “I was declared winner on October 21 evening and officials of the Thiruparankundram Panchayat Union office invited me to receive my certificate on October 22,” she added. As requested, Thadahathi along with Panchayat President Muthuramalingam went to the panchayat union office and got her certificate of election. But things took a turn for the worse in the evening, when the government officials visited her and took her in a car to the union office.   “On reaching the office, they took my certificate back and gave `100 for my transportation,” Thadahathi said wryly.According to Muthuramalingam, the official announcement on Friday said Thadahathi won the polls securing 72 votes, while Manimaran got 50 votes. She contested in the ‘cot’ symbol, while Manimaran used the ‘key’ symbol.“We were shocked when we got to know that Manimaran was given the certificate on Sunday. They did not even call us for a discussion,” Muthuramalingam told Express. Asked about the development, Thiruparankundram Block Development Officer S Saraswathi said it was a mistake on the part of the officials, who wrongly declared Thadahathi as the winner and issued certificate. “I have issued memos to all the officials for the mistake,” she informed.She said Manimaran received 72 votes and Thadahathi around 50 votes. But the officials wrongly entered Thadahathi’s name in place of Manimaran. “We announced Manimaran as the winner on October 21 itself. Only the certificate part got messed up,” Saraswathi detailed.Surprisingly, none of the officials who spoke to Express regretted the error. They did not explain why they did not inform Thadahathi about the goof-up in the first place or why collector’s name was brought into this issue.Though Express tried to contact District Collector U Sagayam, he was not available for comment.Pointing out that recounting was not possible now, Saraswathi said, “If they want recounting, let them fight it out in the court.” On their part, Muthuramalingam said they will seek legal recourse.