AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa not only chose a lot of new faces to give Lok Sabha tickets; she also gave them to many youth. In fact, the average age of the party candidates fielded from Chennai and its suburbs is 45.
Dr J Jayavardhan (26), who is doing his MD is the youngest of the lot. He is the son of former Assembly Speaker D Jayakumar. He got Chennai (South) ticket.
S R Vijayakumar (39), the party’s Chennai (Central) candidate, entered active politics while in college. He received his BA degree from Pachaiyappa’s College and BL from Ambedkar Government Law College. He unsuccessfully contested the elections to the Chennai Corporation in 2006. At present, he is the secretary of AIADMK student’s wing.
For the Kancheepuram (SC) seat, the party chose Maragatham Kumaravel (30) as nominee. A graduate, Kumaravel is the joint secretary of the party’s youth brigade’s Tiruporur unit.
T G Venkatesh Babu (53), the party’s nominee for Chennai (North), too entered active politics while in college. He completed MSc (Zoology) in Pachaiyappa’s College. A member of the AIADMK general council, he is at present the chairman of the Tamil Nadu Industrial Investment Corporation. He unsuccessfully contested the Assembly elections in 2001 from Purasaiwalkam constituency.
For Tiruvallur, the party gave the ticket to sitting Lok Sabha member Dr P Venugopal (62). Hailing from Mappedu, in Tiruvallur district, he received his degree in medicine from Stanley Medical College, Chennai. At present, he is the secretary of party’s Doctors Wing.
The party’s Sriperumbudur ticket went to K N Ramachandran (59), who runs the Sakthi Mariyamman Engineering college at Thandalam.
A postgraduate in political science, he had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections from Kancheepuram in 2004. Since 2006, he has been the presidium chairman of the Kancheepuram Central district.