CHENNAI: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, who is heading the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Tamil Nadu, on Thursday released the party's first list of 23 candidates, comprising senior leaders and former ministers including himself. Later in the day, Palaniswami, in the presence of leaders of all alliance parties, announced the list of 65 constituencies allotted to seven allies.
The seat-sharing among the allies, particularly the seats allocated to the BJP, indicates that the AIADMK limited its concessions to the saffron party. Many constituencies where the DMK is strong -- including at least 14 represented by incumbent DMK ministers -- have been allotted to allies.
When asked about the exact number of constituencies to be contested by the AIADMK, Palaniswami, without giving a figure, said his party would contest the rest of the constituencies. So far, 65 seats have been allocated to seven allies, leaving 169 seats.
In 2021, the AIADMK contested 179 constituencies on its own, while 12 of its allies contested under the 'two leaves' symbol. This time, the situation has significantly changed, as a larger number of seats have been given to the BJP, while the TMC, which contested six seats under the 'two leaves' symbol in 2021, now has chosen to contest five seats under the 'lotus' symbol.
Palaniswami will be contesting from his home constituency of Edappadi for the eighth time. Similarly, former minister D Jayakumar will also be contesting for the eighth time from Royapuram constituency, which he lost in 2021.
Former minister and present Rajya Sabha MP C Ve Shanmugam, who unsuccessfully contested from Villupuram in 2021, has shifted to Mailam. Similarly, two other former AIADMK ministers who lost in 2021 - KT Rajenthra Bhalaji and Agri SS Krishnamoorthy - have respectively shifted from Rajapalayam to Sivakasi (in Virudhunagar district) and Polur to Kalasapakkam (in Tiruvannamalai).
Former Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal's Avinashi constituency has been given to the BJP this time. Recently, Dhanapal's son joined the TVK. Whether Dhanapal will be allotted another seat remains to be seen. In the Nilgiris, a section of AIADMK functionaries protested against the allocation of Udhagamandalam to the BJP.
With speculation rife that TVK president Vijay may contest from Perambur in Chennai, the AIADMK has allotted it to the PMK. Besides, Karaikudi, where NTK chief coordinator Seeman is contesting, has been allotted to the AMMK.
The AIADMK’s ally Puratchi Bharatham has been allocated Kilvaithinankuppam, where its leader Poovai M Jeganmoorthy won in 2021 on the 'two leaves' symbol. However, Jeganmoorthy on Wednesday said that he was unhappy with just one seat for his party.
Constituencies for the New Justice Party (NJP) led by AC Shanmugam were not announced by Palaniswami, who evaded a query from the media on this.
Asked which party will get the votes against the DMK in this election, since the NTK and TVK are also against the ruling party, Palaniswami said, "Our alliance parties are serving the people by raising their voice for the people's issues. Hence, the votes against the DMK will come to us and not to those who remain in their houses," in what appeared to be a veiled dig at Vijay.
Of the 16 constituencies in Chennai, three -- Mylapore, Saidapet and Perambur -- have been allocated to allies. Porkodi Armstrong, the wife of the murdered BSP leader Armstrong, may contest from Thiru Vi Ka Nagar on the 'two leaves' symbol, party sources said.
The first list of candidates is: Edappadi – Edappadi K Palaniswami; Vepanahalli - KP Munusamy; Dindigul - C Sreenivasan; Natham – Natham R Viswanathan; Thondamuthur – SP Velumani; Kumarapalayam - P Thangamani; Royapuram – D Jayakumar; Mailam (7) – C Ve Shanmugam; Madurai West - Sellur K Raju; Palacode – KP Anbazhagan; Nannilam – R Kamaraj; Vedaranyam – OS Manian; Viralimalai – C Vijayabaskar; Kovilpatti – Kadambur C Raju; Tirumangalam - RB Udhayakumar; Sivakasi – KT Rajenthra Bhalaji; Maduravoyal - P Benjamin; Kalasapakkam – Agri SS Krishnamurthy; Tirupparankundram - VV Rajan Chellappa; Bhavani - KC Karuppannan; Jolarpet – KC Veeramani; Karur – MR Vijayabaskar; and Ariyalur – S Rajendran.
Significantly, the constituencies of 14 sitting ministers have been allocated to allies: EV Velu's Thiruvannamalai, KR Periyakaruppan's Thirupathur, M Mativendan's Rasipuram, Mano Thangaraj's Padmanabhapuram, SM Nasar's Avadi, and Anita R Radhakrishnan's Tiruchendur have been allocated to the BJP, while KN Nehru's Trichy West, M Subramanian's Saidapet, and TRB Rajaa's Mannargudi have been allocated to the AMMK. Similarly, R Gandhi's Ranipet, S Muthusamy's Erode West, and R Sakkarapani's Oddanchathiram have gone to the TMC (M). R Rajendran's Salem North has been given to the PMK's Anbumani faction, and SS Sivasankar's Kunnam constituency has been allocated to the IJK.
