A total of 62 candidates, including eight women, are in the fray in the by-election to the Dr.Radhakrishnan Nagar Assembly constituency.
Of the 70 nominations accepted, eight candidates withdrew their nominations on Monday.
The important candidates in the fray include E.Madhusudhanan of the AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi Amma), T.T.V Dhinakaran of the AIADMK (Amma), Maruthu Ganesh of the DMK and independent candidate Deepa Jayakumar. Ms. Jayakumar was allotted the boat symbol.
Even as misleading information relating to electronic voting machines not being able to accommodate a large number of names was being spread on social media, officials said the EVMs available in the city were capable of recording votes of 383 candidates plus NOTA.
“The EVMs of Bharat Electronics Limited were designed for 64 candidates. The EVMs supplied by Electronics Corporation of India Limited were designed for 383 candidates plus NOTA. We used EVMs designed by the Electronics Corporation of India Limited in South Chennai Parliamentary Constituency in 2014. We would have been able to conduct elections by using EVMs even if the number of candidates had exceeded 64. There was no need for ballot boxes. The Election Commission of India had to make a decision,” said a source.
The AIADMK (Amma) faction has filed a complaint with the Election Commission alleging that O.Panneerselvam was misleading the electors, claiming that their symbol was ‘two lamps’.
Former AIADMK MLA P.Vetrivel met with the Returning Officer Praveen P.Nair and filed a complaint regarding the misuse of the symbol by AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi Amma).
“We have filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India. We gave a copy to the Returning Officer. O.Panneerselvam is claiming that their symbol is two lamps. But the actual symbol is electric lamp post. This is misleading. They have printed notices too. They are cheating the people of RK Nagar. He cheated Amma and now he is cheating the people,” said Mr.Vetrivel.
The eight candidates who withdrew nominations are Kolanji, Kalaivanan, Agni Sriramachandran, Shanmugham, Tamilarasan, P.Loganathan, M.Manmadan and R.S.Rajesh.
