AIADMK’s Latha cruises through

Mr. Hariharasudhan, however, said he had never withdrawn his candidature

BJP cadres trying to block the vehicle of Corporation Commissioner C. Kathiravan in the city on Monday after AIADMK was declared the winner in the local body elections for Ward 85. Photo: G. Moorthy

In a ‘sudden’ announcement, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) candidate K. Latha was declared elected unopposed as councillor for ward 85 of Madurai Corporation on Monday evening.

Election officials said Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate S. K. Hariharasudhan had withdrawn his candidature on the last day for withdrawal of nominations. However, when contacted, Mr. Hariharasudhan said he had never withdrawn his candidature and alleged foul play in the election.

“The election officials stated that they received a letter through an agent in which I had asked for my nomination to be withdrawn. I did not send any such letter and someone has forged my signature and withdrawn my nomination,” he alleged. He said he had appealed to Collector L. Subramanian and top officials of State Election Commission to look into the issue. “When I approached the election officials, Corporation Commissioner C. Kathiravan and Mayor V.V. Rajan Chellappa, I got no positive response,” he stated.

A few BJP members assembled at the Corporation office after the announcement and tried to block the car of the Commissioner.

In the urban region, the by-poll for ward 4 will take place with five candidates. In the rural region, there are 28 candidates in fray for various posts. They include 15 candidates for the post of village panchayat ward member and 13 for the post of village panchayat president, an official release said.