932 candidates in fray for Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu

In Tamil Nadu, of the 1587 nominations filed in the 39 Lok Sabha constituencies, as many as 932 nominations were accepted and 655 rejected, according to the chief electoral officer Satyabrata Sahoo.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, he said that out of the 932 nominations accepted, Karur recorded the highest number of 52 nominations while Nilgiris recorded the lowest namely 10.

Reeling out figures for the 18 Assembly constituencies which are scheduled to go for bypolls, Satyabrata Saboo said that out of the 519 nominations received, 305 were accepted while 214 got rejected. Perambur seat recorded the highest nominations with 51 candidates throwing their hats into the ring while Gudiyatham-a reserved constituency- recorded the lowest with just eight candidates entering the fray.

Speaking about the cash seizures and poll code violations, Satyabrata Sahoo said, “Various enforcement agencies have seized about ₹50.70 crores till March 27, the day the model code of conduct got kicked in. Also, 223 kg of gold and 356 kg of silver transported without proper documents were seized by flying squads and other agencies,” Sahoo added.

For violating the model code of conduct, as many as 44 cases have been filed including 10 against the DMK, nine against the AIADMK, three against the PMK, two against the BJP and one against the Makkal Needhi Maiyam (MNM).

Ever since the model code got came into force, farmers in the state have been struggling to carry cash they earn by selling vegetables and fruits in the uzhavar sandhai set up in every district. When asked about it, Sahoo said that even farmers need to carry proper documents while carrying ₹50,000 or more in hard currency.