Chennai: DMK in Tamil Nadu announced that Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi Karunanidhi will be its candidate from Thoothukkudi constituency as it released its list of 20 candidates for the April 18 Lok Sabha polls. Kanimozhi will be crossing swords with the Bharatiya Janata Party's candidate in Thoothukkudi.
The party will also field former Union Ministers T.R. Baalu, A. Raja, Dayanidhi Maran and S.S. Palanimanikkam from Sriperumbudur, Nilgiris, Chennai Central and Thanjavur constituencies, respectively. The DMK will contest in 20 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu and the balance 20 (19 in Tamil Nadu and the lone Puducherry seat) have been allotted to its various electoral allies including the Congress, the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the MDMK.
The party has also named D.M. Kathir Anand, son of party leader Duraimurugan, from Vellor and Kalanidhi Veerasamy, son of senior leader Arcot N.Veerasamy, from Chennai North. The DMK also released its list of 19 candidates for the by-elections in Tamil Nadu (18 candidates) and one seat in Puducherry
AIADMK list
The ruling AIADMK also released the list of Lok Sabha constituencies that the party and its allies would contest. In a statement, the AIADMK said it would contest from 20 seats: Salem, Namakkal, Krishnagiri, Erode, Karur, Tiruppur, Pollachi, Arani, Thiruvannamalai, Chidambaram, Perambalur, Theni, Madurai, Nilgiris, Tirunelveli, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chennai South. Notably, the AIADMK currently holds 37 of the 39 seats in Tamil Nadu.
The PMK has been allotted seven seats: Dharmapuri, Villupuram, Arakkonam, Cuddalore, Chennai Central, Dindigul and Sriperumbudur. The Bharatiya Janata Party will contest from five seats: Kanniyakumari, Sivaganga, Coimbatore, Ramanathapuram and Thoothukkudi.
The DMDK has been allotted four seats: Kallakuruchi, Tiruchirappalli, Chennai North and Virudhunagar. The TMC will contest from three seats: Thanjavur, PT (Tenkasi) and PNK (Vellore). The lone Puducherry seat has been allotted to N.R. Congress.
