‘Election King’ K. Padmarajan, 65, filed his nomination as the first candidate for the Dharapuram (SC) Assembly by-election on Wednesday.
Padmarajan, a resident of Kunjandiyur near Mettur in Salem district, runs a shop that retreads old lorry and bus tyres. He has been filing nominations in elections since 1988, reportedly in an effort to enter the Guinness World Records.
Over the past 38 years, he has filed nominations against several prominent political leaders, including former Chief Ministers M. Karunanidhi, Jayalalithaa, M.K. Stalin and Edappadi K. Palaniswami, besides former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.
Padmarajan has contested or filed nominations in elections ranging from cooperative society polls to the presidential election. His achievements have also found a place in the Limca Book of Records. With nominations for the Dharapuram and Madurantakam by-elections beginning on Wednesday, Padmarajan submitted his papers before the returning officer for Dharapuram.
He said the latest filing was his 256th nomination and that he had spent around Rs.1 crore on filing nominations over the years.
