Coimbatore, Feb 28 (PTI) The AIADMK could have easily won 85 wards in the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation if the elections were held in a free and fair manner, former minister and party whip in the Assembly S P Velumani said here on Monday.

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Addressing a demonstration as part of a state-wide agitation condemning the arrest of senior party leader D Jayakumar, Velumani said the DMK had managed to win a majority of the seats through "fraudulent means" with the help of officials and police department.

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The officials had diverted the votes received by the AIADMK to the DMK and the ruling party's polled votes to the AIADMK thereby murdering democracy, he alleged.

The people will not vote for the ruling party as it has not brought in any schemes for their benefits in the last nine months, Velumani said.

The civic body has a total of 100 wards and the DMK-led front won 96 seats in the local body elections. The AIADMK won three seats.

He said the agitation was being held to condemn the attitude of the state government in foisting false cases against AIADMK workers and also seeking to implement the schemes started by the previous regime.

Stating that Jayakumar had caught red-handed a rowdy with 12 cases against him while trying to indulge in bogus votes, Velumani said the government has put the accused man in hospital and sent Jayakumar to jail.

MLAs Amman Arjunan, Arunkumar, K R Jayaram, Amul Kandaswami, A K Selvaraj, Sulur Kandaswami, Damodharan were among more than 1,000 party workers who participated in the demonstration.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)