The filing of nominations by the candidates contesting the Madurai Lok Sabha Constituency resumed at the Collectorate here on Tuesday after a two-day break on account of government holiday for Ugadi.
Confusion prevailed for at least one and a half hours before the Congress candidate T.N. Bharath Nachiappan filed his nomination to contest the elections. Party sources attributed the delay to setting right a few “discrepancies” in the papers that were to be submitted while filing of nomination. The nomination was finally filed at 2 p.m.
Mr. Nachiappan said he would work for the people and would open a website to effectively address their grievances in the district. He said the Congress would win by a margin of 1 lakh votes.
He said infrastructure development — especially bridges and facilities at the airport — would be given priority and an effective solution to the issue of water scarcity would be found.
“I will also support the construction of a broad gauge railway line from Karaikudi to Madurai and a railway line connecting Tirupparankundram and the airport,” Mr. Bharath said. Former Deputy Mayor of Madurai Corporation R. Gopalakrishnan filed his nomination to contest the election as the AIADMK candidate at 2.30 p.m.
Accompanied by Minister for Cooperation Sellur K. Raju and Mayor V.V. Rajan Chellappa, Mr. Gopalakrishnan said, “My strength is the State government’s welfare schemes implemented by our party leader during the last three years. I would carry on the good work of the AIADMK government to all the people in the constituency.”
“The people here have seen for themselves how efficiently the government has worked for them and will cast their votes for the party. We expect to win all the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and have a resounding victory in Madurai, in particular,” he said.
K.M. Muthuraj, president of Anaithu Ina Makkal Munnetra Katchi, also filed his nomination as an independent candidate. The total number of candidates who filed nominations so far is eight.
