Praveen to helm RK Nagar bypoll again as returning officer

Chennai: The Returning Officer of R K Nagar constituency, K Velusamy, was today transferred and in his place, an IAS official, Praveen P Nair appointed.

The appointment comes two days after a controversy broke out over the rejection of nomination papers of actor Vishal Krishna and Jayalalithaa’s niece J Deepa.

According to a communique from the Election Commission to the Chief Electoral Officer, Tamil Nadu, Rajesh Lakhoni, the Election Commission of India approved the name of Praveen Nair based on the recommendation of the CEO.

Opposition parties, including DMK, had demanded replacement of Velusamy, a state government offcial. Nair, presently managing director of the Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of Women, had helmed the RK Nagar poll process as returning officer during March, April this year.

However, the bypoll was cancelled in April due to allegations of bribing voters. Incidentally, Nair had replaced another state official Padmaja Devi in March after DMK demanded her replacement. A copy of the EC letter was made available to the media here by the CEO, Tamil Nadu.

AIADMK’s E Madusudhanan, DMK’s N Maruthuganesh and sidelined AIADMK leader T T V Dhinakaran, besides some independents are in the fray for the December 21 bypoll, necessitated due to the death of J Jayalalithaa, who represented the assembly segment, in December last.