Chennai witnessed high drama over the nomination and scrutiny processes for the much anticipated RK Nagar bypoll with the Election Commission rejecting the nominations of Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa Jayakumar and actor Vishal.
Both Deepa and Vishal had filed their nominations on Monday. The election is scheduled on December 21.
After his papers got rejected, Vishal sat on a 'dharna' and his supporters blocked the road outside the RO's office in Chennai.
Later, reports emerged that his nomination had been accepted. "I am really thankful to the Election Commission for doing the right thing. My nomination is accepted and I am contesting the RK Nagar by-polls," Vishal had told ANI.
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However, then came the damper. It was rejected again.
In his order, the poll authority said required number of proposers had not validly proposed the candidature of Vishal Krishna and that the actor had been proposed only by eight valid proposers.
"Hence, he has not fulfilled the conditions for valid nomination," Returning Officer K Velusamy said in his order.
"Therefore, I conclude that the nomination of Vishal Krishna is rejected upon my summary enquiry," the official said in the order which was circulated to media.
The RO said two among the 10 proposers, Sumathy and Deepan, appeared before him in person and claimed that it was not their valid signatures (in the nomination papers).
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"Sumathy and Deepan appeared before me in person and submitted a written representation that they had not proposed the nomination of Vishal Krishna," he said.
They submitted that their signatures had been forged, the order read.
The veracity of an audio clip submitted by Vishal that Sumathy appeared before the RO on "coercion" by some persons and not on her own volition could not be ascertained, the election official said.
However, according to NDTV, Vishal questioned the EC's decision and termed it "mocekery of democracy." "I'd challenge this legally. This is mockery of democracy?"he said.
Deepa claimed that the information she provided in the nomination was perfect. "There is a column where we talk about inheritance of property & I have mentioned that. It's not mandatory. That's not a reason enough to reject this application. All other information I have provided are perfect," she said.
London educated Deepa, also a journalist by training, had launched her political party after a turf war with Jayalalithaa’s former aide Sasikala claiming to have the true legacy of Amma. Vishal (40) made a surprise announcement on his decision to contest in RK Nagar on Saturday.
The high voltage election in RK Nagar, which was necessitated after Jayalalithaa’s demise, has high profile candidates such as E. Madhusudanan of the AIADMK, Marudhu Ganesh of the DMK and T.T.V. Dhinakaran, the sidelined AIADMK leader contesting as an independent. Actor Vishal has also thrown his hat into the ring.
Deepa was shot to limelight after Jayalalithaa’s death in December last year as she alleged that she was not allowed by Sasikala to meet Jayalalithaa when she was hospitalized. She had also claimed legal rights to Jayalalithaa’s bungalow Poes Garden and AIADMK’s official two leave symbol. She had also sought a probe into Jayalalithaa’s death.
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Deepa had also contested in the last RK Nagar by election that was cancelled by the Election Commission. Her husband had quit her party and formed his own party called MGR Jayalalithaa DMK Kazhagam.
According to an earlier report by Outlook, Vishal’s surprise and sudden entry caught the major political parties by surprise, even though he had carried out an informal survey in the constituency through his fans. The report had also suggested that Vishal could be testing the waters at the behest of actor Kamal Hassan who has already declared his intent to enter politics.
(With agency input)
