TIRUNELVELI: The BJP's TN Vice President Nainar Nagendran shocked party workers by filing his nomination for the Tirunelveli constituency on Friday before the official announcement of candidates.
Nagendran filed his nomination before the Returning Officer Sivakrishnamurthy without submitting the Form B. During the nomination, he was not accompanied by his partymen or any AIADMK leaders.
Speaking to the media after filing the nomination, Nagendran said that he chose the day as it was auspicious. He also added that he will be submitting the Form B before the last date of nomination.
However, a senior state BJP leader who did not want to be named said Nagendran could have waited for the official announcement of candidates. He also added that it would set a wrong precedent in future.
Supporters of Nagendran said they had begun campaigning as the AIADMK had allotted Tirunelveli to the BJP. Everyone in the party and the public knows that Nagendran will be the candidate of the party, said one of his supporters.
They also said that he had already informed state leaders that he will be filing his nomination on Friday.
Nominations for five constituencies in Tirunelveli district began on Friday. On the first day, two candidates including Nagendran submitted their nominations.
Nagendran confirmed that the BJP candidates list will be announced by party leaders from Delhi and asserted that the party's ally, the AIADMK, will work for his victory.
A 60-year-old hotelier and businessman from Palayamkottai, Nagendran had contested four times in Tirunelveli when he was in the AIADMK, winning twice in 2001 and 2011.
In the 2016 elections, he lost to the DMK candidate and later joined the BJP.
(With inputs from Vinodh Arulappan in Madurai)