The rebel faction of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Wednesday nominated TTV Dinakaran as its candidate for the bye-election in Chennai’s RK Nagar constituency, ANI quoted senior leader S Anbazhagan as saying. The polling will be held on December 21.

Anbazhagan said that Dinakaran’s candidature has been approved by his aunt VK Sasikala, who was the chief aide of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. Sasikala is at present serving a four-year prison term after being convicted in a corruption case.

Dinakaran had earlier contested the April 12 bye-election to the constituency, which fell vacant after Jayalalithaa’s death in December 2016. The election, however, was cancelled by the Election Commission after allegations emerged that parties bribed the electorate for votes. The Income Tax Department had raided several AIADMK functionaries, including Health Minister C Vijayabhaskar, and claimed that there was evidence to prove that Rs 89 crore had been distributed during the election campaign.

Though bye-elections are usually held within six months of a seat falling vacant, one of the reasons for the delay in holding this election was a case filed by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. The opposition party alleged that over 45,000 bogus voters had been added to the voters’ list in the constituency.

The Election Commission initially dismissed these claims, but last week it told the Madras High Court that the DMK’s allegation was true. The poll panel said it had removed all bogus voters from the list.