A case has been registered against K Annamalai, the BJP‘s Tamil Nadu state President and Lok Sabha candidate from Coimbatore, for allegedly campaigning beyond permitted campaign hours in the Avarampalayam area.Coimbatore District BJP Secretary Ramesh has also been named in the FIR along with Annamalai.
The BJP leader was reportedly in the region post 10 pm – the time limit dictated by the election code of conduct for parliamentary elections – after his campaign ran late.
In Coimbatore, the battle for the Lok Sabha seat is set to be a major draw, with DMK fielding Ganapathy P Rajkumar, a former Coimbatore mayor who joined the party in 2020. The AIADMK is being repped by Singai Ramachandran, the head of its IT Wing.
The DMK broke its decade-long seat-sharing agreement with CPM for the seat, in anticipation of a tough fight owing to Annamalai’s growing popularity. The BJP state chief is expected to win the seat with 60% votes.
With the stakes so high, the constituency has seen repeated visits by high-profile leaders to back their candidates. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Coimbatore for a second time on April 3. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi are set to hold a joint rally of the INDIA bloc in the city today in support of Rajkumar.