CHENNAI : Candidates and their supporters flocked to municipalities in the western suburbs as the filing of nominations for the local body polls closed on Wednesday.

Though there was poor response from applicants during the first few days, but on Wednesday a large number of applications were filed in both the local bodies.

The new office at Ambattur municipality received 369 applications on Wednesday to contest in 52 wards. The last minute rush added 20 more applicants for local body polls.

Traffic snarls

The area also witnessed a traffic snarl in the morning due to the crowd in the municipality. A majority of the candidates are youngsters and women who filed their nominations in the last week.

A municipal official said that 128 candidates of the 498 who had submitted applications were independent contestants.

Fresh candidates

This year, several fresh candidates showed interest in contesting the elections.

The fielding of candidates from Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam may be a reason for more applications in this election, an official said.

Five assistant returning officers will scrutinise the applications on Thursday.

Final list

The final list of the candidates and their symbols will be released by September 30. The municipality has set up 316 polling booths to cover about 3.28 lakh voters.

The local body at Avadi also had 339 candidates filing nominations on Wednesday. Ward 7 has 26 contestants, which is the maximum number for this year's election. Nominations have been filed by 449 applicants to contest in 48 wards.

Avadi will also have five assistant returning officers to scrutinise the applications. A municipal official said that for the 1.73 lakh voters, 179 polling booths have been set up. The local body elections will be held on October 15 in both municipalities.

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