R K Nagar bypoll: nominations of actor Vishal, Jaya's niece Deepa rejected

The nomination papers of actor Vishal Krishna and the late J Jayalalithaa's niece Deepa Jayakumar for the December 21 R K Nagar bypoll were on Tuesday rejected by election authorities, a senior official said.

"Both their nominations have been rejected. We will get full details later...it is a quasi judicial process," the official said.

Asked about the reason for rejecting the papers, the official said it was technical. "...there were some flaws in the nomination... it is an order passed by the returning officer," he said.

Vishal, who heads the Tamil Film Producers Council and is the general secretary of the Nadigar Sangam (South Indian Artistes' Association), said he was told at the last minute that there were "discrepancies" in the papers in respect of signatures.

Along with several of his supporters, he briefly squatted on the road in North Chennai protesting the decision to reject his papers. He was removed from the spot by police.

Opposing election authorities rejecting her nomination, Deepa alleged it was not done for any valid reasons. "It is being done wantonly," she said.

As many as 145 nominations were received from people seeking to contest the bypoll. Currently, scrutiny of nominations are on and an official update on the total number of papers accepted and rejected is expected later.

The last date for withdrawal of candidature is December 7.