CHENNAI: 56 nominations for Vikravandi assembly by-election will be verified today

Chennai: Verification of 56 nominations received for the Vikravandi Assembly by-election to be held on July 10 will be held at the Vikravandi taluk office on Monday. DMK candidate Anniyur Siva, PMK candidate C Anbumani and NTK candidate Dr Abinaya are among the candidates of 16 political parties who have filed nominations for the by-election. The remaining 40 are individual candidates. Wednesday will be the last day for withdrawal of nominations, after which the names of the candidates will be finalised and the proposed list of candidates will be released. The filing of nominations took place between June 14 and 21.

Meanwhile, preparations for polling are in full swing at 275 polling stations in the Vikravandi constituency. 1,355 polling station officers will work at 275 polling stations during the election. Training of polling officers is also underway. The first phase of the training took place on Sunday at a private college in Lakshmipuram under the leadership of Returning Officer Chandrasekhar, who explained how to handle Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during elections, Thanthi TV reported. Assistant Returning Officer Yuvaraj, Tahsildar Senthil Kumar, Tahsildar Venkatesan, Zonal Deputy Tahsildars Arumugam and Purushothaman, Revenue Inspectors and Village Administrative Officers (VAOs) attended the training. Meanwhile, to prevent political parties from giving money and gifts to voters, flying squads and members of the State Monitoring Committee conducted strict checking of vehicles on Sunday. It must be remembered that Vikravandi MLA N Pugazhenthi (71) had passed away on April 6, 2023, necessitating the by-election.