As it announced a boycott on Monday of the Assembly by-elections to be held in August, the AIADMK listed several reasons why it thinks elections will not be free and fair in Tamil Nadu. Many of these had to do with the DMK’s alleged ability to “amass false victories”. But the AIADMK also squarely targeted the Election Commission.

According to the resolution passed by the party’s executive committee at Coonoor, presided over by J Jayalalithaa, the AIADMK believes the EVM can be manipulated and suggested the EC is being stubborn in persisting with its use in the face of doubts and controversies in other countries — an apprehension also aired by senior BJP leader LK Advani.

Even as it finds itself in the direct line of fire, the EC is anxious not to be seen as locking horns with the political party. “We would like to reassure any party that has any reservations about the poll process that we will spare no efforts to conduct a free and fair election. We will take all necessary steps, including those specific to the constituency and state,” SY Quraishi, Election Commissioner, told The Indian Express.

“There is no reason for any party to take such an extreme view (of boycott). As an impartial body, the EC makes all efforts to provide a level playing field to all parties. It is for all political parties to take advantage of it,” said his colleague in the Commission, V S Sampath.

But there is concern in the EC, according to sources, about the AIADMK’s decision to boycott the by-polls. In recent times, there have been only two instances of a mainstream party announcing a poll boycott in the country — the Shiromani Akali Dal boycotted the Assembly polls in Punjab 1992, held as the state was emerging from its long battle with militancy; and the BJP and Nagaland People’s Front boycotted the 1998 Assembly polls in Nagaland.

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