Oppn cries foul over accepting Annamalai’s nomination

Tensions flared in Coimbatore as election officials accepted the nomination of K Annamalai, the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), for the Coimbatore Lok Sabha constituency. Despite objections raised by the DMK, AIADMK, and the Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), Annamalai’s nomination was deemed valid by the district collector cum election officer, Kranthi Kumar Pati. Annamalai had submitted two nomination papers for consideration, prompting objections from members of rival political parties who claimed that the documents were not properly filled in. However, despite protests and arguments, one of Annamalai’s nomination papers was accepted by the election officer. The decision sparked outrage among opposition parties, with Kalamani Jeganathan, the NTK candidate for the Coimbatore parliamentary constituency, leading a protest in front of the district collectorate. Jeganathan condemned the collector’s decision to accept Annamalai’s nomination, labeling it as defective and asserting that their objections were disregarded by the returning officer. Adding to the fray, AIADMK lawyers lodged a formal petition against the acceptance of Annamalai’s nomination, highlighting discrepancies in the filing process. Gopalakrishnan, representing the AIADMK, pointed out that Annamalai had failed to sign one of the nominations, leading to its rejection. Furthermore, concerns were raised regarding the format of the affidavit filed by the BJP leader, which allegedly did not adhere to the Election Commission of India’s guidelines.