SALEM: Will Stalin reward his staunch loyalist and DMK’s lone successful candidate in Salem district, R Rajendran, with a ministerial berth? This is the question in most DMK supporters’ minds. Panamarathupatti Rajendran, as he is popularly called after his victory in the segment in 2006, is DMK’s Salem Central unit district secretary.
He was at loggerheads with the late strongman Veerapandi S Arumugam, who was among Stalin’s detractors. Identified as a clean hand, he has no criminal proceedings or land grabbing charges, which tarnished the party’s image in 2006-11. Rajendran was rewarded for his hard work in 2014 after the debacle in LS elections that year, DMK divided the Salem unit into three and Rajendran was appointed as district secretary for Salem central.
The affable politician was the only DMK candidate to win in 2016 also, winning from Salem North. This time, too, he has won the same seat. He prevailed in a tough fight with AIADMK’s high two-time MLA and Salem urban district secretary G Venkatachalam.