Nominations of key candidates accepted
Objections were raised against T.T.V. Dhinakaran and Nainar Nagendran during the scrutiny of nominations, but their papers were finally accepted
With filing nominations ending on Wednesday, the papers of candidates of major political parties were on Thursday accepted by the Returning Officers across the 10 Lok Sabha constituencies in the southern districts of Madurai, Dindigul, Theni, Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Tenkasi, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari. of
The Lok Sabha election has been scheduled for April 19 in Tamil Nadu and the filing of the nominations commenced on March 20.
While the DMK has fielded Kanimozhi again in Thoothukudi, the Congress has given yet another opportunity to Karti Chidambaram in Sivaganga, Vijay Vasanth in Kanniyakumari and Manickam Tagore in Virudhunagar. CPI (M)’s sitting MP Su. Venkatesan is contesting for the second time in Madurai and K. Navas Kani (IUML) is contesting against in Ramanathapuram. While AMMK coordinator T.T.V. Dhinakaran is contesting in Theni with the support of the BJP, former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam filed his nomination in Ramanathapuram as a BJPbacked Independent.
Senior BJP leader and former Union Minister Pon. Radhakrishnan is contesting in Kanniyakumari, and DMDK founder Vijayakanth’s elder son Vijaya Prabakaran is trying his luck in Virudhunagar, where Radikaa Sarathkumar is the BJP candidate. WIN TV owner T. Devanathan Yadav is the BJP candidate in Sivaganga.
The ROs of all the 10 Lok Sabha constituencies scrutinised the nominations in the presence of General Observers and the candidates’ representatives.
Contestants of major parties, including the DMK, AIADMK and the NTK, objected to the nomination of Mr. Dhinakaran in Theni, saying his affidavit was not uploaded on the website. However, after it was informed that the sworn affidavit was indeed uploaded, the officials adjourned the decision till 3 p.m., but it was announced as accepted before 3 p.m..
The Congress has fielded Robert Bruce in Tirunelveli. However, former MP Ramasubbu filed his papers on Wednesday, but announced that he would withdraw his nomination before March 30. During the scrutiny, his papers were rejected due to nonsubmission of Form B. The NTK objected to the nomination of BJP candidate Nainar Nagendran, but the objection was overruled.
Mr. Panneerselvam had sought one of the three symbols: bucket, grapes or jackfruit.
Meanwhile, five other namesakes (O. Panneerselvam) filed nominations in Ramanathapuram. The former CM’s younger son accused the AIADMK high command of trying to create confusion among the voters.