Manikandan of Nellai district in Tamil Nadu took it up with the authorities of his polling booth yesterday after learning that his vote had already been cast by someone else. He demanded to cast a tender vote as allowed by Section 49P of The Conduct of Elections Rules, which was hugely popularised by Vijay-starrer Sarkar.
#சர்கார் திரைப்பட பாணியில், நெல்லை மாவட்டம் பணகுடி மணிகண்டன் என்பவரின் வாக்கை மற்றொருவர் கள்ள ஓட்டு போட்டதை தொடர்ந்து , மணிகண்டனுக்கு #Section #49P தேர்தல் விதிப்படி வாக்களிக்க அனுமதி. #Sarkar #ElectionDay #TNElection2019
— Mahalingam Ponnusamy (@mahajournalist) April 18, 2019
The spokesperson for the film told Silverscreen that they had learnt of such instances from people on social media. Anitha, a 19-year-old student from Giddalur district in Andhra Pradesh also invoked the Section to cast her vote. The Hindu reports that after a heated argument with the presiding officer at Nallathanda Bazaar polling booth, Anitha established her identity and maintained that she would not return home unless she was allowed to vote.
In Sarkar, Vijay’s character Sundar Ramasamy moves court to be able to invoke 49P to cast his vote. The Section can be used if a person’s vote has been cast by someone else. Such votes are taken into consideration if the margin of victory is less than the tendered votes.
After Sarkar released, Google searches for Section 49P spiked, and, in the run-up to the elections, even the Election Commission put up posters to inform people about the law.
The director of Sarkar, AR Murugadoss, shared the poster on Twitter.
Glad, election commission is bringing awareness on #49p #Sarkar pic.twitter.com/SPnk71M7RR
— A.R.Murugadoss (@ARMurugadoss) March 7, 2019
The Lok Sabha elections took place in Tamil Nadu yesterday. Several actors and celebrities cast their votes, while some of them found their names missing in the electoral list. Actor Sivakarthikeyan took this up with the authorities and managed to vote; however, actors Robo Shankar and Ramesh Kanna could not vote.
Ramesh released a video saying that his name was not on the list and it was the authorities’ fault. “The Election Commission advertises widely that it is the duty of every person to cast their vote. Only when a film like Sarkar comes people get to know about 49P. Now we need to speak up about this issue too.”
He also told Silverscreen, “I am not Vijay from Sarkar to move legally.”
