CHENNAI/TIRUCHY: The scrutiny of nomination papers for the Tamil Nadu Assembly election was completed on Tuesday, with the nominations of several prominent leaders, including Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin (Kolathur) and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (Edappadi), being accepted.
Nominations of other key candidates, such as actor and TVK president C Joseph Vijay (Perambur and Tiruchy East) and NTK chief coordinator Seeman (Karaikudi) were also cleared during the scrutiny process.
Officials of the Election Commission of India said the verification exercise continued late into the night, and final figures of accepted and rejected nominations were compiled on Wednesday.
According to official data, of around 7,600 nominations filed, nearly 4,000 were accepted, while about 1,700 were rejected due to reasons such as incomplete documentation and substitution of candidates. Nomination papers filed by alternative candidates in place of primary nominees were among those rejected.
Candidates have been given until April 9 to withdraw their nominations.
Polling for the Assembly election is scheduled for April 23, with counting of votes to be held on May 4.
Among constituencies, Karur recorded the highest number of nominations at 108, followed by Thondamuthur (77) and Perambur (66). On the lower side, Udhagamandalam and Gudalur saw 13 and 14 nominations respectively.
Vijay’s nomination papers for both Perambur and Tiruchy East Assembly constituencies were accepted on Tuesday after scrutiny, despite objections raised by rival candidates.
Vijay had filed nominations from both constituencies and later submitted an updated affidavit for Perambur. During scrutiny, candidates from other parties questioned aspects of his affidavit, including asset disclosures and notarisation. However, the Returning Officer (RO) of Perambur declared the nomination valid.
“The nomination is accepted. Those raising objections must submit supporting evidence for their allegations,” the RO said, directing objectors to formally substantiate their claims.
The acceptance of Vijay’s papers in Tiruchy East was also confirmed without delay.
Meanwhile, in Tiruchy, nominations of almost all the candidates from major political parties were accepted. While the Tiruchy revenue district received as many as 276 nominations for all nine constituencies, Tiruchy East, where Vijay is contesting, had the maximum number of nominations with 39, and Musiri had the least number with 21.
The scrutiny process commenced at around 11 am, and the candidates and the representatives of candidates were allowed a thorough inspection. In Tiruchy East, the scrutiny was delayed for half an hour because a few independent candidates came late.
Meanwhile, the nominations of the major parties for Tiruchy West candidates, including minister KN Nehru, Tiruverumbur DMK candidate Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi and others were also accepted.