TIRUPPUR: With the Assembly election fast approaching, key leaders in the state BJP have already set their eyes on 'favourable' constituencies in Tiruppur and Coimbatore districts.
Union Minister of State L Murugan is likely to contest from Avinashi or Dharapuram constituencies in Tiruppur district, BJP sources said. Former state president of the BJP K Annamalai is also planning to contest from either Palladam in Tiruppur district or Koundampalayam in Coimbatore district, they added.
In the 2021 Assembly election, L Murugan had contested from the Dharapuram constituency, but lost to the DMK candidate and current Human Resource Management Minister N Kayalvizhi Selvaraj by a margin of just 1,393 votes.
Sources claim a certain percentage of Muslim votes in the constituency had helped Kayalvizhi secure the victory, though the BJP had paid special focus to secure Murugan's win, as he was the state president at that time. While DMK awarded Kayalvizhi Selvaraj a ministerial post for this victory, the BJP responded by posting L Murugan as a Union Minister of State.
BJP sources said L Murugan is likely to contest again in the upcoming Assembly election from Avinashi or Dharapuram. He is at the top of the party's list of proposed candidates, they added.
The Avinashi constituency is a traditional stronghold of the AIADMK, and the party has been winning consecutive elections here since 2001. Speculations are rife that former Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal, who was elected as MLA in the last two Assembly election from Avinashi, may be denied the opportunity to contest from Avinashi this time.
Sources also pointed out that L Murugan has become a familiar face in Avinashi as he had also contested in the last Lok Sabha election.
When TNIE tried to contact L Murugan, he was unavailable for comment.
Meanwhile, a state-level functionary said former BJP state president K Annamalai is likely to contest from Palladam in Tiruppur district or from Koundampalayam in Coimbatore district.
He pointed out Annamalai had contested from the Coimbatore constituency in the 2024 parliament election, and secured around 70,000 votes in the Palladam Assembly segment alone.
Similarly, party sources indicated BJP state general secretary AP Muruganandam is likely to contest from Tiruppur South or Tiruppur North constituency. He had contested from the Tiruppur constituency in the last Lok Sabha election as well.
Vanathi Srinivasan, who is currently the Coimbatore South MLA, is likely to contest from Coimbatore North, while AIADMK is likely to field Amman Arjunan as their candidate in Coimbatore South.
R Chinnaswamy, BJP's state executive committee member and Tiruppur North constituency in-charge, said, "No official decisions have been made in the party yet regarding candidates. Announcements are likely to be made by party leadership after the Prime Minister's visit to Tamil Nadu. We will work for the BJP's victory, no matter which candidates the party chooses. We have already started our work at the booth level."