Chennai: Distributing money at lodges far away from ground zero, dispatching gifts to families through online retailers and handing over cash in the wee hours are some of the indigenous methods adopted by politicians in the bypoll to RK Nagar have baffled Election Commission observers from various states.

With the RK Nagar constituency under the close watch of observers and micro-observers, voters are being brought to lodges on Waltax Road next to the Chennai Central railway station by auto rickshaws and are handed over Rs 2000 notes. Visuals beamed on TV channels and circulated on WhatsApp show the money being distributed to the claimant after he shows his identity card.
"Flying squads and surveillance teams also help the ruling party by delaying the response time," allege poll managers of the AIADMK rebel team led by O. Panneerselvam and the opposition DMK.

"Till last week cash was distributed from the houses of those supporting TTV Dhinakaran located in Washermenpet and Tondiarpet. After registering complaints, the cash distribution was shifted to lodges in Royapuram and Chennai Central," alleged Rajesh, chief polling agent for AIADMK candidate E. Madhusudhanan.

"As many as 40 complaints of ruling party members distributing cash had been lodged with police stations (H 6, H 5, and H 4) and video evidence has been shared, but there is no end to this menace of distributing cash for votes," said Chennai North DMK district secretary S Sudharsanam. As there is no effective result from police and poll officials our cadres are trying to stop the distribution of cash, but they are being beaten up.

"We are sharing visuals to the TV channels to make sure that the EC officials are on high alert both inside and outside RK Nagar. In most of the cases, the poll officials are either not aware of the latest modus operandi. Some of them are reluctant to act on poll complaints," said M. C. Raveendran who manages the campa-ign schedule of OPS team.

When contacted, a senior official with the Chennai district elective office said guest houses and lodges in north Chennai are already under surveillance and now with complaints coming in the police had been instructed to scan the lodges located near Central and Egmore railway stations. The complaint that gifts are distributed through an online portal is also under investigation, but seems lacking evidence, the official noted.