The opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on Wednesday announced its first list of 23 candidates, fielding its general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami from Edappadi constituency for the April 23 Tamil Nadu assembly elections.
The party also announced that it will compete for 169 seats in the council, and its allies in the National Democratic Alliance will compete in 65 electoral districts. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will contest 27 constituencies, the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) will contest 18 constituencies, the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) will contest 11 constituencies, and the Tamil Manila Congress (TMC) will contest 5.
Small parties like Indhiya Jananayaka Katchi (IJK) got two seats. Tamilaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK) and Puratchi Bharatham have been allotted one seat each.
The first list was announced a day after the party announced the 297-point electoral program for the House of Representatives elections, with a guarantee of a monthly bonus of 297 points. $2000 for every woman in the country and a one-time support $10,000 per family to compensate for higher costs. The manifesto also promised additional ration benefits like dal with rice, distribution of refrigerators and three free cooking gas cylinders annually to ration card holders. It also provided free bus rides for men. Bus rides are already free for women.
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Palaniswami, popularly known as EPS, served as Tamil Nadu’s seventh Chief Minister from 2017 to 2021. The 71-year-old Opposition leader has represented Edappadi constituency in the Assembly since 2011, and before that from 1989 to 1996. Born in Salem district, Palaniswami comes from a farming family and identifies himself as a farmer.
KP Munusamy, deputy general secretary of AIADMK, has been fielded from Veppanahalli. He served as Minister for Municipal Administration and Rural Development in the J Jayalalithaa government from 2011 to 2016, and was also the party’s Rajya Sabha MP (2020-2021) before resigning to take up his seat in the state assembly after the 2021 elections.
D Jayakumar, a former Minister of State and former Assembly Speaker, will contest from his Royapuram constituency, where he was elected in 1991, 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016. He unsuccessfully ran in the 2021 elections. He is currently the organizing secretary of AIADMK.
The party’s Rajya Sabha MP, CV Shanmugam – a four-time MLA who was previously Minister for Education, Law and Business Taxes from 2003 to 2006 and from 2011 to 2013 – was appointed from Milam.
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Former health minister C Vijayabaskar is seeking re-election from Viralimalai. Dindigul C Srinivasan, the party’s treasurer who served as forest minister from 2016 to 2021, will contest from Dindigul.
Natham R Viswanathan, deputy general secretary of the party, got the ticket from Natham. SP Velumani, currently MLA from Thondamuthur, has been renominated. Former state minister P Thangamani is seeking re-election from Kumarapalayam.
Another former state minister Sellur K Raju has been renominated from Madurai West, where he had won in 2011, 2016 and 2021. KP Anbalajan, former higher education minister, was fielded from Palakkudi where he registered his maiden victory in 2001.
The main election contest is expected to be between the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led Secular Progressive Alliance, which also includes the Congress Party, the Disiya Murpukku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), and the Vidutalai Chiruthigal Katchi (VCK) Party, and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the AIADMK with the BJP and PMK as allies.
Actor-turned-politician Vijay is all set to make his election debut with TVK, in a bid to turn the upcoming elections into a three-way contest.
The ruling coalition has not yet announced its candidates and electoral program.
(With agency inputs)
