Chennai: All eyes were on the Election Commission as the final list of candidates contesting in the Lok Sabha elections and Assembly by-polls was set to be released at 3 pm today.
Sources said 1,587 nominations have been received for the Lok Sabha polls out of which 1,414 are men, 171 are women, two are transpersons. It is said 946 nominations were approved and 639 were rejected. Six candidates withdrew their nominations till noon today.
Similarly it is said 518 candidates applied to contest in the Assembly by-polls for 18 constituencies out of which 310 nominations were approved.
Meanwhile, leaders of the various political parties continued their election propaganda today. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palansiwami sought votes in Tiruvannamalai on behalf of the party’s candidate Agri Krishnamoorthy. Speaking at a public meeting, Palaniswami said when compared to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the AIADMK alliance will have a clean sweep in all the 40 constituencies.
“DMK president M K Stalin alleges that this government is corrupt. I am ready to debate on this topic one on one with him. Is Stalin ready to answer my questions?,” he said. Earlier in the day he canvassed in Vandhavasi, Cheyyaru, Arani and Polur in favour of AIADMK’s Arani candidate V Ezhumalai.
Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam was campaignining in Viralimalai for AIADMK’s Karur candidate M Thambhi Durai. He said the DMK-Congress alliance during their ten years rule did not bring any futuristic schemes for the development of the State.
Stalin who was camped in Madurai this morning, later moved on to Sivaganga and sought votes for Karti Chidambaram. He said Karti was not given seat just because he was the son of former Union Minister P Chidambaram but based on his talent. “BJP candidate H Raja is known to create riots and people should teach him a lesson in this election,” he said.
| Relief for AIADMK |
| A petition against Edappadi K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam signing the AIADMK candidates’ nomination forms, filed by former AIADMK MP K C Palanisamy, was dismissed by the Delhi High Court today.Palanisamy sought the stay by stating that creating the coordinator and joint coordinator post in AIADMK by changing the bylaw of the party was illegal. |