THANJAVUR: After the demise of R Doraikkannu, who contested successfully three consecutive times from Papanasam constituency in Thanjavur and held Agriculture portfolio in the outgoing AIADMK ministry, a question doing rounds is whether the Dravidian major will field its candidate again or leave the seat to alliance partner Tamil Maanila Congress.
In the Assembly elections conducted from 1952 to 2001, Papanasam constituency elected candidates either from the Congress or its offshoot TMC, the only exception being 1971 when a DMK candidate won. However, since 2006, the soft-spoken Doraikkannu was elected three consecutive terms. In the final term, he held the portfolio of Agriculture as R Vaithilingam, a former minister from the delta, lost in the 2016 elections in Orathanadu. Vaithilingam is presently an MP and deputy coordinator of AIADMK.
According to sources, a large number of aspirants from AIADMK, including Durai Shanmuga Prabhu, district secretary of the youth wing, son of Doraikkannu, have filed applications seeking the seat. Though Doraikannu belonged to Vanniyar community, the PMK, one of the alliance partners of the AIADMK, is reportedly not interested in the constituency, which has a significant Vanniyar population.
However, TMC has been staking a claim for the constituency from where party founder G K Moopanar was elected to the Assembly in 1989 elections. The constituency is the native of Moopanar family. According to sources, TMC has been demanding the constituency for Sureshkumar Moopanar, a close relative of party chief G K Vasan and State-level office-bearer of the party.
Opponent
In the DMK camp, S Kalyana saundaram, north district secretary of the party, has filed application for candidature from Papanasam