Chennai, Apr 9:
In a significant setback to Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam in its electoral debut, the nomination papers of its candidate in the Edappadi Assembly constituency were rejected during scrutiny, dealing a blow to actor-turned-politician Vijay.
The party had fielded M. Arun Kumar against Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) in his home turf in Salem district. However, election officials found the nomination papers not in order, leading to their rejection. The papers of the substitute candidate were also rejected.
Hundreds of TVK supporters who had gathered at the Edappadi Taluk office for scrutiny on Tuesday were left dejected. Tension escalated as Arun Kumar reportedly went missing soon after arriving at the venue, with his mobile phone switched off. Party cadre staged protests alleging that their candidate had been abducted, prompting police intervention to restore order after assuring efforts to trace him.
Both the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and TVK had fielded newcomers to challenge EPS, a former Chief Minister who has won from Edappadi three consecutive times since 2011. Mr Palaniswami, who has contested eight times from the constituency since 1989 and won five, is now seeking a fourth straight term.
With TVK effectively out of the fray unless a valid substitute emerges before the withdrawal deadline—the contest in Edappadi is now set to be a direct fight between the DMK and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
The DMK candidate C. Kasi’s nomination, briefly held up due to a signature discrepancy, was later accepted following intervention by former Minister T.M. Selvaganapathy.
Explaining the rejection, Returning Officer P. Natarajan said candidates from unrecognized parties must have 10 proposers, but the TVK nominee had only seven. The same issue affected the substitute candidate as well.
Meanwhile, speculation of foul play has surfaced, as Arun Kumar is believed to be closely associated with R. Elangovan of Salem, a trusted aide of EPS.
Despite Vijay earlier downplaying the AIADMK’s relevance and framing the contest as primarily between TVK and the DMK, analysts say the party’s inability to field a candidate against EPS presents a contrasting picture and highlights organisational gaps in its debut electoral outing.