Four assembly by-elections in Tamil Nadu soon

Chennai, May 20 (IANS) By-elections to four assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu will be announced soon, a top election commission official said here Wednesday.

'By-elections for the four vacant assembly seats - Illayankudi, Thondamuthur, Bargur and Cumbum - will be announced soon,' the state's chief electoral officer Naresh Gupta told reporters.

The four seats are rendered vacant after the sitting legislators resigned.

Gupta also ruled out any malpractice in the recently concluded parliamentary elections for the Virudhunagar and Sivaganga constituencies.

In Virudhunagar, polling officials at Thirumangalam segment wrongly totalled the votes polled and the matter was found out at the time of counting, he said.

According to Gupta, the total votes polled in the Thirumangalam segment were around 151,000 whereas it was initially recorded as 130,000.