Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], March 25 (ANI): BJP Tamil Nadu Vice President RC Paul Kanagaraj claimed that both the DMK and the AIADMK were engaging in a drama while filing the nominations for the North Chennai Lok Sabha constituency to show to their voters that they are the "boss of the city."
"...we found out that it was a master plan of both parties. They wanted to create a scene. Since both the party's candidates were contesting from North Chennai, they wanted to highlight that they were the strongest. They wanted to show that they are the boss of the city," Kanagaraj said, speaking to ANI on Monday.
Kanagaraj said that the episode played out at the Returning Officer's office during the filing of nominations was a "well-planned set-up" done with the help of the officers.
"This is absolutely a drama played by both parties. They are hand in glove. It is a well-planned, pre-planned set-up with connivance and support given by the officers," the BJP North Chennai candidate said.
Kanagaraj said that when he went to Zone 5 to file his nominations for the North Chennai constituency, he was told that All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) was inside the office.
"DMK aided by the Minister along with the candidate, were marching towards the officer. At that time, our men were questioning how he could go with so many people. Then one of the media personnel said that he was going along with dummy candidates and independent candidates," Kanagaraj explained.
After the BJP candidate was called in, he was made to sit outside the RO's office, where the BJP team found both the AIADMK and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam inside the RO's office.
"I heard that both were fighting. After enquiring, I found out that AIADMK stepped in first and DMK followed them. But the token numbers they issued were 2 and 5, both independent candidates brought by DMK. Since AIADMK appeared first, they insisted the officer to entertain them first," Kanagaraj said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party North Chennai candidate was waiting outside for the matter to be solved between the two parties.
"We were waiting. After 1.5 hours, we lost our patience and asked the officer to decide later from whom they wanted to take nominations. I asked the officer to entertain us first. The process will take only 5-10 minutes. You fight with them or do whatever you want to do...We lost our patience and decided to protest on the road," Kanagaraj said.
Tamil Nadu will be going to polls in the first phase of the General Elections on April 19. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the DMK won 23 seats while the Congress got 8. The BJP failed to win any seat in the state. (ANI)
