R.Chinnaraj

R.Chinnaraj, aged 60 with a 10th standard education, is contesting from Mettupalayam constituency as an Independent candidate. He declares his profession as Agriculture with total assets of Rs. 31.08 lakhs (Rs. 9.88 lakhs movable and Rs. 21.20 lakhs immovable) and zero liabilities. However, there is significant ambiguity regarding his political identity. Web searches consistently identify the prominent Mettupalayam political figure as O.K. Chinnaraj, a long-serving AIADMK politician who held the constituency seat from 2006 to 2021. O.K. Chinnaraj's political career was marked by three consecutive electoral victories—winning narrowly by just 142 votes in 2006 against DMK's B. Arunkumar, then securing comfortable margins in 2011 (54.53% vote share with 93,700 votes) and 2016 (44.41% vote share with 93,595 votes). His tenure ended in 2021 when he lost to A.K. Selvaraj by 2,456 votes. Throughout his 15-year legislative career, he remained affiliated with AIADMK with no record of party switches or independent candidacy. The discrepancy between the affidavit data (declaring Independent party affiliation and Agriculture profession) and web records (showing consistent AIADMK membership and political career) raises questions about whether this is the same individual or a different person with a similar name. No controversies, criminal cases, or corruption allegations appear in available sources. Voters should note that while the candidate's declared assets appear modest and reasonable for someone in agriculture, there is limited documentation of specific development work or legislative achievements attributable to R.Chinnaraj as an independent candidate. The lack of distinct social media presence or recent news coverage for an independent candidate by this name further complicates verification of current activities and platform.