TTV Dinakaran, Deepa’s nominations accepted after clarifications

A total of 127 nominations were filed for the vacant RK Nagar Assembly seat whose scrutiny started in the presence of election returning office Praveen P Nair on Friday morning. 

Scrutiny of nominations was held up for nearly an hour following a lawyer attached to the DMK’s Marudu Ganesh camp objecting to Dinakaran’s candidature as he had been fined Rs 28 crore for FERA violations and that there were questions regarding his nationality. After deliberation, Dinakaran’s nomination was accepted. Dinakaran later told the media that it was an attempt by the O Panneerselvam faction and the DMK to prevent him from contesting. 

Similarly, late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa Jayakumar’s nomination was also held up during scrutiny as she had not mentioned her husband Madhavan’s name in the relevant column. 

Former MLA Malaravan who was her agent then requested her presence and following her arrival and filing an affidavit before the returning officer, her nomination was also accepted. 

The nomination of Sarath Kumar’s Samuthava Makkal Katchi candidate Antony Xavier was held up and re-scrutiny was undertaken. The final tally of those in the fray for this prestigious seat will be known on Monday when withdrawal of nominations takes place.