The BJP candidate for the Bagepalli Assembly constituency Saikumar filed nomination on Thursday here at the taluk office. He is the second candidate  hitherto to file the nominations in the constituency. 

He entered the taluk office without any fanfare. The close associates opined that the actor had intentionally kept filing of nomination a secret till the eleventh hour to avoid rush in the taluk office.  And, he thought the Election Commission would object if it leads to chaos, said his supporters.

Hence, though it was publicly announced that he would file nominations on Friday, he surprisingly submitted nomination on Thursday itself.

Except media he had not informed anyone about this. By 12 pm he appeared at the taluk office in a filmy way with nomination papers.

He waited for half an hour in the office premises as someone else was filing the nominations. He was accompanied by his wife Surekha and brothers Ayyappa and Ravishankar.

The public who had come to the office for various reasons surrounded the actor to shake his hand. However soon the police managed to disperse the crowd that surrounded the actor. Later, speaking to reporters he said, he has got the support of people from all strata and he exuded confidence in winning the election.

Besides he welcomed the Election Commission’s decision to implement the codes strictly. Following the Election Commission’s restrictions, no rally was held, Saikumar said.

An independent candidate Govindareddy from Yallodu village Gudibande taluk filed the nominations prior to Saikumar. With this on the second day two nominations were filed.

Saikumar Yuva Sene State President Rajesh, BJP district General Secretary Nanjappa and leaders Nanjundarao, Manikanta and S S Srinivas were present on the occasion.  Strict security set up was in place under the supervision of Sub Inspector Anand Kumar.