Nominations of actor Vishal, Jayalalithaa's niece Deepa rejected

"Both their nominations have been rejected. We will get full details later...it is a quasi judicial process," the official told PTI.

Asked about the reason for rejecting the papers, the official said it was "technical."

"...there were some flaws in the nomination..it is an order passed by the Returning Officer," he added.

Vishal, who heads the Tamil Film Producers Council and is the general secretary of the Nadigar Sangam (South Indian Artistes' Association), said he was told at the last minute that there were "discrepancies," in the papers in respect of signatures.

Along with several of his supporters, he briefly squatted on the road in North Chennai protesting the decision to reject his papers.

He was removed from the spot by police.

Opposing election authorities' rejecting her nomination, Deepa alleged it was not done for any valid reasons. "It is being done wantonly," she added.

As many as 145 nominations were received from aspirants seeking to contest the bypoll.

Currently, scrutiny of nominations are on and an official update on the total number of papers accepted and rejected is expected later.

The last date for withdrawal of candidature is December seven.