Major parties opt out of filing nominations on Day 1

However, the Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) candidates filed their nominations at both the Aravakurichi and Thanjavur constituencies. There was confusion on day one as last-minute changes to the application process was intimated to the candidates only on Tuesday morning. In Aravakurichi, Returning Officer Sybuddeen returned the nomination papers of Rajesh Kumar of India Dravida Makkal Munnedra Katchi for not carrying out the additional changes. This delayed the nominations process for the Naam Tamilar Katchi candidates. 

Pointing out to the delay in filing nominations, NTK candidate A Nalladurai said, “We were only informed about the changes on Tuesday morning. We had to carefully go through the forms and carry out the changes. This lead to confusion on day one.” 

“When we approached the Election Commission, we were asked to download the form from the website and didn’t receive any additional instruction,” he added. He also claimed that the elections were postponed due to irregularities committed by the two major political parties in the state. “The elections must not be postponed again,” he said. Meanwhile, NTK candidate Aravind Gurusamy filed his papers in Aravakurichi. 

Candidates from major political parties including the AIADMK, DMK and PMK did not file their papers on Wednesday. Though both the AIADMK and DMK had announced their candidates, they opted not to file papers on day one. According to sources from both parties, their candidates are most likely to file nomination on Friday. The BJP is yet to announce the candidate for the election. 

Meanwhile in Madurai, two candidate filed their nominations for the Tiruparakundram constituency on Wednesday.

As soon as the nomination process began at 11 am, Padmarajan, an independent candidate from Mettur, who had taken up the moniker ‘Election King Padmarajan’, filed his nomination. He claimed this was the 177th time he was taking part in the by-elections. 

In the past, he had contested unsuccessfully against all the major politicians including Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and DMK Supremo K Karunanidhi. He had even filed his nominations for the Presidential election but was rejected. 

He claimed that he had already entered the Limca Book of Records for the most number of unsuccessful attempts in elections. He is now attempting to enter the Guinness Book of World Records. Padmarajan said that he was aware that he will not win the elections and claimed that he would die of joy in the event that happens. 

Mahadevan, from Naam Tamilar Party (NTP), filed his nomination on Wednesday. He made heads turn as he was accompanied by his party cadre and a goat. He claimed that he brought the goat to highlight that people are forgetting the traditions of Tamil Nadu. He pledged that he would revive them if he was made a MLA. His backup candidate was Marudhamuthu.

The Election Commission had implemented two changes for filing the nomination papers this year. 

Speaking to DTNext, Jeeva, Returning Officer of Tiruparakundram constituency, claimed that earlier, the candidates had to submit their photographs in person to the officials but this year they were asked to paste the photograph on the first page. The second change was pertaining to the declaration by candidates regarding their nationality. The candidates had to provide proof that they were citizens of India. Owing to the changes, there was minor delays in filing nomination papers on day one.