MADURAI: The AIADMK, which heads the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Tamil Nadu, is unlikely to yield to pressure exerted by ally BJP to allot Thiruparankundram assembly constituency to it in the upcoming assembly elections. Cadres from both AIADMK and BJP have started work in the constituency.
Sources in the AIADMK said the saffron party has staked clain because it was encouraged by the response to the Murugan Maanadu held earlier in the year, and wants to consolidate on the gains through the Thiruparankundram issue -- over lighting the deepam atop the hill. But the AIADMK is firm in not conceding the seat to its partner.
Thiruparankundram is one of the ten constituencies in Madurai district and one of the five where the AIADMK secured victory in 2021.
“Our general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami is not ready to allocate seats won by it party earlier,” said an AIADMK source, adding that if the party retains the seat, chances of incumbent MLA VV Rajan Chellappa, who won by a margin of 29,500 votes against CPI(M) candidate Ponnuthai, is very high.
Further, Chellappa, a former mayor, is also the party’s district secretary and has a significant influence over the cadres. The AIADMK lost in the 2019 by-election, which was a testing time for Edappadi K Palaniswami. Another source emphasized that the AIADMK sees Thiruparankundram as one of winnable seats and is therefore unwilling to relinquish it. “Seat-sharing talks between the two parties are going on at the leadership level, Who gets to contest in the hill town will be known only after the negotiations end.”