Chennai, April 7 (IANS) With the filing of nominations for the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly elections concluding after a hectic final day, scrutiny of nomination papers will begin on Tuesday at 11 a.m., marking the next crucial stage in the electoral process.

Polling in the state is scheduled for April 23, while counting of votes will take place on May 4.

Election officials said the scrutiny process does not have a fixed end time. While it is usually completed within a day, constituencies with a large number of nominations may require additional time.

Details of rejected nominations are expected to be available by Tuesday afternoon. Candidates will be allowed to withdraw their nominations until April 9. By noon that day, the final list of contesting candidates is expected to be published, providing a clear picture of the electoral contest across all constituencies.

The filing of nominations began on March 30 as part of the candidate finalisation process. On the opening day, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin filed his nomination from Kolathur, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam leader Vijay from Perambur, and Naam Tamilar Katchi chief coordinator Seeman from Karaikudi.

Along with several others, a total of 573 nominations were filed on the first day.

The pace of filings increased significantly in the following days.

On April 2, as many as 788 candidates submitted their papers, while April 4 saw a surge with 2,069 nominations filed.

In the first three days alone, the total number of nominations reached 3,430.

The final day of filing witnessed heavy crowds at election offices across Tamil Nadu, as it coincided with an auspicious muhurtham day. Candidates and their supporters gathered in large numbers, leading to long queues outside the Returning Officers’ offices. In several locations, election authorities issued tokens to manage the rush and maintain order.

Among the prominent candidates to file nominations on the last day was AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami, who submitted his papers from the Edappadi constituency in Salem district. This marks his eighth consecutive contest from the same seat.

Meanwhile, officials confirmed that the supplementary electoral roll was finalised on Monday and will be printed soon. The integrated final voter list is expected to be released shortly, setting the stage for an intense electoral battle in the state.

–IANS

aal/dpb