Actor Vishal Krishna claimed on Tuesday that his nomination for the December 21 R K Nagar bypoll in Chennai has been accepted by authorities after a scrutiny of a complaint in respect of signatures in the application form.
“The nomination that I filed has been accepted. I thank the Election Commission,” he told reporters in Chennai.
When asked if Vishal’s claim was true, the returning officer K Velusamy told PTI that the matter was still under process.
“No, it (Vishal’s representation challenging the rejection) is under process. We will issue orders,” he said.
The nomination papers of Vishal and late Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa Jayakumar were rejected by election authorities. Deepa’s nomination papers were rejected as several columns were left blank.
Answering a question on the reason for the rejection, Vishal, who also heads Tamil Film Producers Council, said a complaint was filed claiming that two signatures in his nomination form belonged to some others. “After investigation (by poll authorities), it was found that there is no truth in it and my nomination is accepted,” he said adding independent candidates stood behind him in his efforts.
Authorities did what was needed to be done “in a fair manner,” Vishal said.He said he will be meeting the electorate from Wednesday and “face the election honestly.”
In a tweet, the actor said, “After much struggle, my nomination for the RK Nagar election is finally accepted…. Truth Always Triumphs !.”
Along with several of his supporters, the actor staged a sit-in on the road near the office of the returning officer in North Chennai protesting the decision to reject his papers.
He was removed from the spot by police.
About 145 people had filed their nomination papers. The last date for the withdrawal of the candidature is December 7.
The Radhakrishnan Nagar seat fell vacant following the death of Jayalalithaa on December 5, 2016.
In a sudden turn of events, the Election Commission on Tuesday accepted the nomination of actor Vishal Krishna to contest the Dec 21, 2017 by-election to the Radhakrishnan Nagar assembly constituency.
“My nomination has been accepted. I thank the Election Commission. The Returning Officer has done what has to be done,” Vishal, as he is popularly known, told media.
The poll body had earlier rejected his nomination as one of the proposers had said they had not proposed Vishal but her names were included in the actor’s nomination paper.
Vishal submitted a recorded conversation with a person named Velu, said to be relative of the woman who had proposed his candidature.
As per the phone recording, Velu told Vishal that a woman in his family was threatened to give a letter to the poll body stating that she did not sign the nomination form.
“The audio recording that you all heard is true,” Vishal told reporters.
The Election Commission officials had earlier said that the nomination papers filed by actor Vishal had inconsistencies.
However the poll body has rejected nomination form filed by late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa’s niece J.Deepa, while accepting the nomination papers filed by candidates belonging to the ruling AIADMK (E.Madhusudhanan), DMK (N.Marudhu Ganesh), the Bharatiya Janata Party (K.Nagarajan) and over 50 independents.
Deepa’s nomination papers were rejected as several columns were left blank.
A total of 145 persons had filed their nomination papers.
The last date for the withdrawal of the candidature is December 7.
The Radhakrishnan Nagar seat fell vacant following the death of Jayalalithaa on December 5, 2016.
HT News
