DMK Releases 164-Candidate List For Tamil Nadu Assembly Polls, CM Stalin Retains Cabinet Colleagues, Drops Three Ministers

Chennai: Ending prolonged uncertainty over allocation of constituencies among a larger number of allies, DMK president and Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday completed the exercise and finally got into full poll mode releasing his party’s list of 164 candidates for the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

175 Seats for Ruling Party

With candidates of 11 constituencies, given to allies, set to contest on the DMK’s Rising Sun symbol, in effect the ruling party will be in the fray in 175 of the 234 seats in the State. Stalin, while retaining almost his entire cabinet colleagues, dropped three of them – Mano Thangaraj (Dairy Development), R Gandhi (Handlooms) and Kayalvizhi Selvaraj (Human Resource Management) from the list. Gandhi’s Ranipet constituency, however, has been given to his son Vinoth Gandhi.

The DMK list included 18 women including Social Welfare Minister Geetha Jeevan and 60 new faces.

Elder Statesman Defies Retirement

The DMK general secretary and Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan, who is on the wrong side of 80s and in frail health, refused to take retirement and will be trying his luck from his native Katpadi constituency yet again.

Stalin also gave tickets to former Chief Minister and AIADMK expelled coordinator O Panneerselvam in his native Bodinayakkanur constituency, former AIADMK Ministers Palaniappan and Vaithilngam and two former MLAs for the AIADMK P H Manoj Pandian and Ayyappan, who had all switched loyalties.

Stalin and his son Udhayanidhi Stalin will be contesting from their current constituencies Kolathur and Chepauk-Tiruvallikeni respectively.

In a related development, DMDK leader Premallatha Vijayakant and her son Vijaya Prabhakaran are entering the fray along with eight others as part of the DMK-led alliance. Premallatha’s brother L K Sudhish was recently given a Rajya Sabha nomination as part of the alliance deal despite the DMDK not having a single legislator in the outgoing Assembly.

Meanwhile, film actor and BJP functionary Khushbu’s husband C Sundar – a film director-cum-actor – is entering the fray from Madurai region on the AIADMK’s ‘Two Leaves’ symbol. He has been fielded on behalf of a fringe outfit New Justice Party, a constituent of the NDA.