Election King Padmarajan files 256th nomination for Dharapuram by-polls

COIMBATORE: Election veteran K Padmarajan, popularly known as the “Election King”, was the lone candidate to file his nomination on the opening day of the by-election to the Dharapuram assembly constituency on Wednesday.

A resident of Mettur in Salem district, Padmarajan filed his nomination for the 256th time. Since 1988, he has filed nominations for parliamentary, assembly and local-body elections, often taking on prominent political leaders.

“My only objective is to have my name featured in the Guinness World Records and the Limca Book of Records. I have never been driven by the desire to win an election,” he said to the media after filing his nomination.

The nomination process began at the Revenue Divisional Officer’s (RDO) office in Dharapuram on Wednesday. As part of security arrangements, barricades were erected around the premises and restrictions imposed to prevent crowding and maintain law and order. Armed police personnel were deployed at the RDO office to ensure that the nomination process proceeded peacefully.