AIADMK candidate Om Sakthi Sekar filed his nomination paper for the byelection to Nellithope assembly constituency on Friday.
Mr. Sekar filed his papers before Returning Officer G. Malarkannan at the Directorate of Industries and Commerce. Mr. Sekar’s son Tamil Sengolan also filed nomination as an alternative candidate of the AIADMK.
Earlier, Mr. Sekar, accompanied by a large number of AIADMK cadre, came in a procession on Kamaraj Salai to the office of the Returning Officer. AIADMK Member of Parliament N. Gokulakrishnan, Legislature party leader A. Anbalagan, Puducherry unit Secretary P. Purushothaman and MLAs participated in the procession.
The by-poll to Nellithope Assembly segment has been necessitated after the Congress Legislator A. John Kumar vacated the seat to enable Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy to contest a by-election before December 6 deadline for getting elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly
The former Congress legislator was the deputy chairman in the Puducherry Municipality in 2006-11 and had contested the 2016 Assembly elections as a Congress candidate. In the last Assembly polls, he defeated AIADMK candidate Om Sakthi Sekar by a margin of 12,000 votes.
Mr. Sekar, an ex-serviceman entered the electoral fray in 2006 after joining the AIADMK. In his maiden election, he defeated the former Chief Minister of DMK R. V. Janakiraman and retained the seat in 2011.
