CHENNAI : A total of 137 candidates are to contest in the four assembly constituencies - Sulur, Aravankuruchi, Thiruparankundram and Ottapidaram - for the by-elections scheduled to be held on May 19. Among the four constituencies, Aravankuruchi has the highest number of candidates at 63 where the DMK Karur district secretary Senthil Balaji is contesting.
As many as 91 candidates filed their nominations including 62 independents in Aravankuruchi. While nominations of 23 candidates were rejected for various reasons, five withdrew their nomination on Thursday, bringing down the total number of contestants in the Constituency to 63.
Followed by this, Thiruparankundram has 37 candidates in the field while in Sulur and Ottapidaram, 22 and 15 candidates are contesting respectively. All the four constituencies are facing a five cornered contest with candidates of AIADMK, DMK, AMMK, NTK and MNM.
Meanwhile, Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo held a meeting with District Electoral Officers and police officials across the State through video conferencing and reviewed the security measures and arrangements to be made during counting day on May 23. He also briefed them about the required procedures to be followed, to ensure the security of voting machines at counting centres.