Thuraiyur PMK candidate’s papers rejected

The nomination of A. Vasanth was rejected as he was just 23, against the prescribed minimum age of 25.

The nominations of the Pattali Makkal Katchi candidate and the party dummy for Thuraiyur Assembly constituency in the district were rejected during scrutiny on Saturday as both of them have not attained the minimum age of 25 to contest elections.

The nomination of A. Vasanth, PMK candidate for the constituency, was rejected as he was just 23 as mentioned in his affidavit.

Mr. Vasanth, who had given his educational qualification as class 9, told

The Hindu that he was not aware that the minimum age for contesting elections was 25 and he was chosen by the party as the candidate for the constituency.

Similarly, the nomination of R. Arun, the party dummy, was also rejected as he was just 22.

Apart from these two, 56 other nominations were rejected in the nine Assembly constituencies of the district. According to official sources, a majority of the rejected nominations were those of dummy candidates of parties and additional nomination papers filed by some of the candidates.

The nomination of S. Rajendran, an Independent, who had refused to pay the deposit after filing his papers for Srirangam, was rejected. The nominations of the official candidates of major political parties were accepted, officials said.

As many as 152 candidates were left in the fray for the nine constituencies in the district after the rejection of 58 nominations. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is May 2.

In Thanjavur district, there are 14 candidates in Kumbakonam and Papanasam, 13 each in Orathanad and Pattukkotai, 12 in Thanjavur, 11 in Tiruvidaimarudur, 10 in Tiruvaiyaru and nine contestants in Peravurani.

In Tiruvarur district, there are 16 contestants in Tiruvarur Assembly constituency, 15 in Nannilam, 12 in Mannargudi and 11 candidates in the fray in Tiruthuraipoondi (SC) constituency.

In Nagapattinam district, there are 20 contestants in the Nagapattinam constituency, 12 candidates each in Vedaranyam and Sirkali (SC) constituencies, 10 in Poompuhar, and nine candidates left in the contest for the Keezhvelur (SC) and Mayiladuthurai constituencies. Twenty nominations were rejected for the Perambalur and the Kunnam Assembly segments in Perambalur district.

In Karaikal district, a total of 17 nominations were rejected for the five Assembly segments in the district.

In Ariyalur district, 21 nominations were rejected for the two Assembly seats of Ariyalur and Jayamkondam.

Fifty three nominations were rejected in Karur district for various reasons on Saturday.

Maximum rejection was reported from Kulithalai constituency, where 20 nominations were found invalid while the nominations were scrutinised. Similarly, 18 nominations were rejected in Karur constituency.

In Aravakuruchi, 10 nominations were rejected. Five nominations were found invalid in Krishnarayapuram constituency.