Over 1,000 persons file papers for April 18 LS polls in TN

Nominations for the April 18 Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu came to a close Tuesday, with over 1,000 persons, including two members from the third gender filing their papers in the four cornered contest.

The candidates who have filed their nominations include BJP senior leader and Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan, DMK's Kanimozhi and Dayanidhi Maran, besides political greenhorn P Raveendranath Kumar, son of AIADMK Coordinator and state Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam.

Maran, the former union telecom minister, filed his nominations on the last day Tuesday.

According to latest available Election Commission data, a total of 1,046 persons have filed their nominations, the process for which started on March 19.

As many as 920 male candidates, 124 women and two members from the third gender filed their nominations during the near week-long process.

The aspiring MPs include Congress' Karti Chidambaram and H Raja, both from Sivaganga, and senior DMK leader T R Baalu, Baalu, also a former Union Minister in the UPA regime.

Sitting AIADMK MP from Chennai South, Dr J Jayavardhan has also filed nomination for a successive term.

Elections to 39 Parliamentary seats in the state are scheduled on April 18 in a single phose polling.

Tamil Nadu votes in the second phase of the seven-phase elections to a total of 543 Lok Sabha seats.

AIADMK-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), its rival DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), actor Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam and TTV Dhinakaran's Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) are the main contenders in the polls, making it a four-cornered contest.