Chennai: “As many as 845 candidates are contesting in the election for the 39 Lok Sabha constituencies while 269 candidates will be in the fray in the bypolls for the 18 Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu,” said Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo.
After scrutinizing the nomination papers filed by the candidates, the CEO on Friday disclosed the final number of candidates contesting from each constituency for the Lok Sabha polls and the bypolls for the 18 Assembly constituencies. The ECI on Friday allowed the candidates until 3 pm to withdraw their nominations for the elections scheduled to be held on April 18.
Of the total 845 candidates, 779 are men, 65 are women, and one is a transgender candidate, and a total of 269 candidates are contesting in the bypolls for the 18 Tamil Nadu Assembly constituencies.
The CEO has stated that the Karur Lok Sabha constituency tops the list with 42 candidates contesting for the polls. The Nilgiris constituency will have only 10 contestant candidates, the least in the state. For the Assembly byelections, the Perambur Assembly constituency tops the list with 40 contestant candidates, while Gudiyatham Assembly constituency has only 7 contestant candidates, the least in the state.
According to the ECI as on March 29, the officials across Tamil Nadu have seized Rs. 72.94 crore since the model code of conduct came into force. The quantity of gold and silver seized till Friday stood at 608 kilograms, collectively worth Rs. 74.47 crore, of which 261 kg is gold, while 346.7 kg is silver. With contraband worth Rs 153.32 crore seized so far, Tamil Nadu still remains at the top spot in the total value of restricted items seized in the run-up to the elections apart from Gujarat, which saw drugs worth Rs 500 crore seized.
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