MADURAI: It was a busy day in the election process in most of the offices of the returning officers as

candidates of various political parties filed their nominations on Monday.

In Madurai, sitting MP and CPM candidate of the DMK alliance Su Venkatesan, AIADMK candidate P Saravanan and BJP nominee Professor Raama Sreenivasan filed their nominations before the Returning Officer.

Later talking to press persons, Venkatesan said the ensuing 18th Lok Sabha election is a battle to safeguard democracy and the Constitution. Expressing confidence about his re-election from Madurai seat, he said the people would dethrone the fascist BJP and give the INDI Alliance a massive victory at the national level. Pointing out that the ruling DMK, which is the leader of their alliance, has contributed much for the development of Madurai, Venkatesan said he was sure of getting more votes than his tally in 2019.

BJP candidate Sreenivasan said that the Modi wave was sweeping the whole nation, and he would certainly win the polls.

AIADMK candidate Saravanan said he has a bright chance of victory from Madurai and added that the party’s campaign would highlight the scheme introduced by the AIADMK government for the development of Madurai. He also attacked the DMK regime for doing nothing to develop the Temple City. In Virudhunagar LS constituency, Congress party’s two-time sitting MP Manickam Tagore, who is contesting from the seat for the fourth consecutive term, filed his nomination papers. BJP debutant Radhika Sarathkumar, who’s confident of winning the Virudhunagar seat, also filed her on Monday.

Similarly, son of DMDK founder and late actor Vijayakant Vijaya Prabhakaran, who is debuting in politics on a DMDK ticket in Virudhunagar, also submitted his nomination. He is contesting in alliance with the AIADMK.

In Ramanathapuram LS constituency, sitting MP and IUML candidate K Navaskani is seeking re-election from the seat. He is fighting in alliance with the DMK. O Panneerselvam, who is contesting as an independent on behalf of the NDA. Both filed their nominations.

Karti Chidambaram, Congress MP, filed nomination for the Sivaganga constituency for the second consecutive term.

Other BJP candidates, including Nainar Nagendran, state vice president of the party, and Pon Radhakrishnan filed their papers for Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari constituencies respectively.