Hundreds of candidates, including those of political parties and Independents, filed their nominations for the urban local bodies in the central region on the last day on Friday.
As many as 2,284 nominations have been filed for the wards in the Tiruchi Corporation, five municipalities and 14 town panchayats in Tiruchi district. Till Thursday, 1,258 nominations had been filed in the district.
Hectic activity was witnessed at the offices of the election returning officers and assistant returning offices as candidates made a beeline to file their papers on the last day for filing nominations on Friday. During the day, 384 nominations were filed for the 65 wards of the Tiruchi Corporation, taking the total number of nominations received to 718 in the civic body. The five municipalities in the district have attracted 676 nominations totally and 890 nominations have been filed for the town panchayats.
Eighty-five nominations were received for the Perambalur Municipality on Friday, taking the total number of nominations received to 126. The four town panchayats in the district, Kurumbalur, Labbaikudikadu, Poolampadi and Arumbavur, have attracted 235 nominations totally, official sources said.
In Pudukottai Muncipality, 333 nominations have been received for the 42 wards. This included 165 nominations received on Friday. The 27 wards in Aranthangi Municipality have attracted 148 nominations, including 78 filed on Friday. The 10 town panchayats in the district attracted 356 nominations on the final day, taking the total number of nominations to 632.
In Nagapattinam, 427 nominations have been received totally for the 57 wards in the two municipalities of Nagapattinam and Vedaranyam. This included 171 nominations received on Friday. The 60 wards in four town panchayats in the district have received 257 nominations totally.
In Tiruvarur district, 1418 nominations have been received totally for four municipalities and seven town panchayats.
The nominations will be taken up for scrutiny on Saturday and Monday is the last date for withdrawals. Elections to the urban local bodies are to be held on February 19 and counting of votes will be taken up on February 22.
In Ariyalur district, 419 nominations have been received for 69 wards in the two municipalities of Ariyalur and Jayamkondam and two town panchayats of Udayarpalayam and Varadharajanpettai.
Meanwhile, observers nominated by the State Election Commission for each district inspected the arrangements for the polls and also held discussions with the officials of the respective districts. Flying squads were also conducting vehicle checks at various places. About ₹ 4.94 lakh was seized from the occupant of a car by a flying squad during vehicle checks conducted in Aravakurichi Town Panchayat limits on Friday. The passenger, Karuppasamy of Santhapadi, had claimed that he was taking the cash to buy steel fencing wires. However, he did not have valid documents to prove his claim, hence, the cash was seized.
IUML not to contest
Meanwhile, the Indian Union Muslim League has announced that it would extend unconditional support to the DMK in the election to the Tiruchi Corporation and the municipalities and town panchayats in district.
The IUML Tiruchi South district unit has also decided to go ahead with its earlier decision to contest alone, after the DMK failed to allot its choice of wards.
The announcement came after a meeting between the IUML President K.M.Kader Mohideen and the DMK Principal Secretry and Minister for Municipal Admiistration, K.N.Nehru, here on Thursday. Mr.Nehru explained to the IUML leader the alliance compulsions and circumstances under which one ward was allotted to the party.
Following this an emergency meeting of the IUML’s south district unit was held and it was decided to hold talks with Mr.Nehru seeking two wards. As Mr.Nehru had reportedly expressed its inability to concede the demand, pointing out that candidates have filed nominations for almost all wards. However, he had assured that IUML would be accorded priority in seat allocation in future elections in the district. Following this, the IUML issued a statement announcing that the party would extend its support to the DMK in all the urban local bodies in the district.
In Tiruchi Corporation, the DMK is contesting from 50 of 65 wards, leaving the rest to the allies. The AIADMK is contesting all the seats on its own.
Published - February 04, 2022 08:57 pm IST
