COIMBATORE: Candidates of MNM, Congress and NTK accused their rival Vanathi Srinivasan of the BJP of trying to influence voters in Coimbatore South constituency. MNM chief Kamal Haasan who arrived in the city from Chennai submitted a petition to the Returning Officer seeking Vanathi’s disqualification. Mayura Congress candidate Mayura Jayakumar and NTK candidate Abdul Wahab staged a road roko on Chetti Street demanding action against Vanathi.
Jayakumar told TNIE that his supporters caught a few BJP members handing out tokens, which read ‘For Sri Ganapathy Agencies’, allegedly meant to distribute cash for votes later. The candidates called off the protest after police officers gave them an assurance of registering an FIR and closing the shop. Vanathi took to Twitter to respond to allegations, “It (the protest) is stage-managed to defame my party cadre and to attribute reasons for my victory. No truth in the allegation.”