Chennai, April 24: Poll-bound Tamil Nadu today awoke to a sensational allegation after a niece of the late M.G. Ramachandran claimed she was “kidnapped” to stop her contesting from Andipatti, where chief minister Jayalalithaa is one of the contestants.

Leelavathi, who had planned to contest as an Independent candidate, told reporters that a four-member gang abducted her and her assistant when they were about to leave for Andipatti in a van on April 19.

“For a whole day we were roaming about in the vehicle,” she said, adding that they were freed when it was too late to file her papers.

Nominations closed on April 20 for all the 234 Assembly constituencies going to polls in the state.

Leelavathi, the daughter of MGR’s brother M.G. Chakrapani, said her uncle had won from Andipatti in 1984 and she had decided to jump into the fray there this time because she wanted “to serve the people” of the constituency.

“But I was prevented from proceeding to Andipatti and, when I resisted the gang members, at one stage I was attacked,” she alleged, showing minor injury marks on her left hand and right shoulder below the neck.

Asked about Leelavathi’s allegation, state chief electoral officer Naresh Gupta said the poll panel was yet to receive any complaint from MGR’s niece. “If a complaint comes, we are duty-bound to look into it,” Gupta said.

But Andipatti has been in the news even before the kidnap allegation, and not just because Jayalalithaa is a contestant.

M. Karthik, the state chief of the All India Forward Bloc and a popular film actor, had thought of contesting from Andipatti but abandoned his plan at the last minute. In yet another twist, the AIFB nominee, Pon. Murugan, suddenly withdrew from the fray and joined Jayalalithaa’s ADMK.

As the last date of withdrawal of nomination ended this evening, Gupta said 16 candidates are left in the fray from Andipatti.

In other constituencies, several AIFB candidates have complained of “threats and intimidation”, allegedly by ADMK workers. One candidate, Senthil, who was to file his papers for the Thirumangalam seat near Madurai, even committed suicide.

Scores of AIFB nominees “are being kept in Madurai to ensure their safety,” Karthik said today.

“We will look into the AIFB’s complaint once we receive it,” Gupta said to a query.