DMK to contest in 164 out of 234 seats in Tamil Nadu

The ruling DMK on Saturday named its candidates for 164 constituencies for the April 23 Assembly polls, renominating Chief Minister MK Stalin and his son and deputy Udhayanidhi from their existing city seats and setting up a direct fight with archrival AIADMK in a number of constituencies.

Winding up days of seat-sharing talks with allies, including Congress and the Left, the DMK identified the constituencies for them. Minutes later, at a press conference at DMK headquarters, Anna Arivalayam, Stalin released the names of 164 candidates of his party.

Stalin denied any “delay” in seat-sharing parleys, saying the “patient discussions” have ensured everybody is satisfied. Also, he was making efforts to ensure unity in the bloc.

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami has been mocking the DMK, claiming it suffered from a delay in seat-sharing talks, claiming that his party has taken the lead and got on to the campaign mode by finalising everything.

Besides DMK’s 164 seats, 11 alliance party candidates, including those from Vaiko-led MDMK, will contest on the ruling party’s Rising Sun symbol, effectively making it 175 constituencies for the party.

Election to 234 Assembly seats in the State will be held on April 23.

On Saturday, Stalin retained all but three of his 33 cabinet colleagues and some senior MLAs. He fielded over 60 persons for their maiden electoral battle, even as the candidates’ composition included doctors, engineers and PhD holders. Besides, 18 women are in fray on behalf of the ruling party.

Stalin, the ruling DMK president, said he would contest once again from Kolathur. Udhayanidhi is seeking re-election from Chepauk-Triplicane, also in the city.

Ministers Durai Murugan (DMK general secretary),

KN Nehru, Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, Thangam Thennarasu, Ma Subramanian, and EV Velu have been retained. Interestingly, expelled AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam, who recently joined DMK, has been fielded from Bodinayakkanur, the seat he represented in the outgoing Assembly. He had resigned as MLA after joining DMK.

Two of Panneerselvam’s colleagues, Paul Manoj Pandian and R Vaithilingam, who had joined the DMK earlier, have also been given poll tickets.

Another interesting move is shifting former Electricity minister V Senthil Balaji from his stronghold Karur to Coimbatore South. The move is seen as a strategic shift by the DMK to strengthen itself in Coimbatore and the surrounding regions that are generally a bastion of the AIADMK. The AIADMK is in the fray in this city segment, currently represented by BJP Mahila Morcha chief Vanathi Srinivasan.

Earlier in the day, DMK completed the seat-sharing process with its allies, identifying the constituencies to be contested by the Congress, Left parties, VCK and DMDK, among others. DMK leads the Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) in the State.

Principal ally Congress’ 28 seats include Ponneri, Erode East, Vilavankode, Sivakasi and Karaikudi.

DMDK, led by Premalatha Vijayakanth, has been allotted 10 seats, and they include Vriddhachalam and Pallavaram. Vriddhachalam was represented by the party founder, late Vijayakanth, in the past.

Thol Thirumavalvan-led Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) will contest from, among the allotted eight seats, Kattumannarkoil, Panrutti and Tindivanam.

The allocations to CPI(M) include Padmanabhapuram and Palani, while CPI will face the polls from Thalli and Bhavanisagar (SC), among others. Both Left parties have been given five seats each.

The DMK also identified seats for other allies, including the Vaiko-led MDMK, which will contest in four seats, including three on DMK’s Rising Sun symbol. Its allocations include Madurai South.

While talking to reporters, Stalin said the party’s election manifesto would be released on Sunday.

The DMK nominees were “victorious candidates,” and the party will form its “2.0” Government post the polls. “This is for sure,” Stalin said emphatically.

With the DMK-led SPA finalising the seat-sharing process, the battle lines are emerging with more clarity.

The AIADMK, which leads the Opposition NDA bloc, has announced contesting from 169 seats, with some of its allies too fighting on its Two Leaves symbol. Out of the 169, it has named candidates for 150.

Among the many direct fights the two archrivals would be involved is Edappadi, the native constituency of AIADMK chief K Palaniswami. The DMK has fielded Kasi against him. Similar battles would also be witnessed in Tiruchirappalli, Tiruverumbur, Tambaram and Katpadi, among many others.