RK Nagar bypoll: EC once again rejects actor Vishal's nomination; Jayalalithaa's niece Deepa Jayakumar out of election race

The Election Commission has rejected former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa Jayakumar’s nomination for RK Nagar bypoll, according to media reports.

Former TN CM Jayalalithaa's niece Deepa Jayakumar's nomination for #Chennai's #RK Nagar has been rejected by Election Commission after several discrepancies were found in her form.

— ANI (@ANI) December 5, 2017

The Commission rejected her nomination after several discrepancies were found in her form.

Earlier it was reported that apart from Jayakumar_,_ EC had also rejected actor Vishal’s nomination. However, Vishal later claimed that his nomination had been accepted by the poll panel. Nevertheless, the Election Commission once again rejected the actor’s nomination.

After much struggle, my nomination for the RK Nagar election is finally accepted....

Truth Always Triumphs !!#JusticeServed#DemocracyPrevails

— Vishal (@VishalKOfficial) December 5, 2017

After EC’s announcement, Vishal had staged a dharna against its decision to cancel his nomination as an independent candidate.

Chennai: Actor Vishal sits on 'dharna' against cancellation of his nomination as an independent candidate #RKNagarByPoll pic.twitter.com/hi2GOC4eq3

— ANI (@ANI) December 5, 2017

Vishal, who heads the Tamil Film Producers Council and is the general secretary of the Nadigar Sangam (South Indian Artistes’ Association), said he was told at the last minute that there were “discrepancies,” in the papers in respect of signatures.

Along with several of his supporters, he briefly squatted on the road in North Chennai protesting the decision to reject his papers. He was removed from the spot by police, according to PTI

On the other hand, Jayakumar’s nomination which was filed on Monday was rejected as one of the forms accompanying her nomination paper was not filled properly, according to India Today report .

The report further added that Jayakumar failed to fill the columns relating to the value of her assets as asked in the ‘Form 26I’-which is essentially an affidavit. However, Jayakumar has said that she did not fill the column related to the inheritance of property as it is not mandatory. She further added that she has filled all the other required details.

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: Deepa Jayakumar, J Jayalalithaa's niece #RKNagarByPoll pic.twitter.com/Wgfp9AaMJ0

— ANI (@ANI) December 5, 2017

In an interview given to Thanthi TV, Jayakumar said, “They created many obstacles to my filing affidavit. I even got calls from senior people in the government that I shouldn’t file my nomination and to take it back. I don’t want to name them. They said my nomination might be rejected. They did not stop any of the other candidates, but they tried to stop me. Even last time, some people told me I shouldn’t file the nomination and threatened me. But I didn’t take it seriously that time.”, reported The News Minute . 

The RK Nagar bypoll will be held on 21 December and the results will be announced on 24 December. AIADMK will be represented in the polls by senior leader Madhusudhanan, while the Amma faction group has fielded VK Sasikala’s nephew TTV Dhinakaran (his name is also spelled Dinakaran). While on the other hand, DMK has fielded Maradhu Ganesh and BJP has nominated Karu Nagarajan.

As many as 145 nominations were received from aspirants seeking to contest the bypoll. Currently, scrutiny of nominations are on and an official update on the total number of papers accepted and rejected is expected later.

The last date for withdrawal of candidature is 7 December.

With inputs from agencies