Over 4.5K nominations accepted for elections

The process of scrutinising the nominations commenced on Saturday morning but went on till late on Sunday with one still pending. Scrutiny for more than 1,300 nominations carried out on the second day. A total of 2,727 were rejected.

The last day for withdrawing nominations is Monday after which the final list of candidates will be released for the April 6 polls. While the 2016 Assembly polls had 3,776 candidates in the fray, the numbers are expected to be significantly higher this year with the entry of MNM and AMMK. Meanwhile, confusion prevailed during the scrutiny of the nomination papers of BJP candidate for Harbour constituency, Vinoj P Selvam, as his name was spelt different in different records.

As news spread, protests were held by supporters of DMK candidate Sekhar Babu and other Independents who urged the Election Commission of India officials not to accept his application.

They also urged ECI to allow them inside while scrutinising the nomination papers of Vinoj but their demands were turned down. However, the disparities were resolved and Vinoj’s nomination was accepted later during the day.