KARUR: Congress candidate Jothimani and DMK district in-charge Senthil Balaji engaged in heated altercation with police officers outside the collector’s chamber on Monday, alleging that were made to wait for 20 minutes to file her nomination papers.
As AIADMK candidate M Thambi Durai, who was scheduled to file his papers at 11 am, came to the collectorate late and filed his nomination, the Congress candidate arrived there and had to wait outside. Jothimani and Balaji argued with police, and a DSP allegedly pushed Balaji.
An altercation ensued when the police stopped journalists from taking photos of the candidates’ filing their papers, and journalists accused the police of pushing them around. Later, the police allowed the journalists to enter the chamber.
Later, Balaji alleged that DSP Kummaraja had stopped vehicles of the opposition alliance’s leaders. “He acts like the district deputy secretary of the ruling party. We will be filing a complaint about this to the Election Commission,” he told reporters.
“Thambi Durai, who is the deputy speaker of Lok Sabha, has not even used all of his MP fund. I challenge him to a debate about the special funds he has used for the constituency. They should not take credit for the medical college and the Pasupathipalayam subway, which I laid the foundation stones for during my period. Did the government of the AIADMK, which has 37 MPs, stop NEET or neutrino projects?” Senthil Balaji said.