The ruling AIADMK on Friday released its first list of six candidates for the April 6 Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu ahead of arch-rival DMK and pending conclusion of seat-sharing with allies, including the BJP.
The party's star candidates, Chief Minister K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam will contest from their respective home constituencies of Edappadi in Salem and Bodinayakanur in Theni districts. The AIADMK allotted 23 seats to ally PMK days ago before DMK finalised seat-sharing with Indian Union Muslim League, Manithaneya Makkal Katchi and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi.
The ruling party, however, is yet to conclude the seat-sharing exercise with the BJP and others. The IUML and MMK were allotted three and two seats respectively by the DMK and it gave six segments to the VCK. Senior leaders D Jayakumar (Fisheries Minister) and C Ve Shanmugam (Law Minister) have been fielded once again from Royapuram and Villupuram in northern Tamil Nadu respectively.
MLAs S P Shanmuganathan and S Thenmozhi would face the polls from Srivaigundam and Nilakottai (Reserved) segments. Asked about the AIADMK releasing its list ahead of DMK, political analyst Durai Karuna said it was not altogether new as it had happened before, from the time of party founder M G Ramachandran.
"By declaring constituencies before the conclusion of the seat-sharing exercise, allies cannot demand segments that have been announced," he said. "If you look at the community profile of candidates, it is a mix. AIADMK has given a subtle signal of assurance to uphold social justice," Karuna, also a veteran journalist, said. The Chief Minister and Deputy CM are from Gounder and Mukkulathor communities respectively, while Shanmugam is a Vanniyar.
Jayakumar represents the fishermen community and Shanmuganathan is Nadar and Thenmozi a Dalit, he said. "It is a politically important message in the first list itself.Rivals target AIADMK for aligning with the BJP,accusing the saffron party of working against social justice," he told PTI. The Tamil Nadu Assembly is 234-member strong and according to sources, the AIADMK is keen on contesting from at least '170 seats', including the 134 segments where it emerged victorious in the 2016 polls.
The AIADMK on Thursday conducted interviews for party ticket aspirants. AIADMK senior leader D Jayakumar told reporters that talks with allies were going on smoothly, adding, "there is no friction or crack." A BJP leader expressed confidence that seats to be contested by his party was likely to be out "tonight or on Saturday".
The DMDK too said the poll deal with AIADMK would be concluded in a day or two. The 66-year old Chief Minister was first elected in 1989 to the Assembly and re-elected in 1991, 2011 and 2016. A Minister since 2011, he became the Chief Minister in February 2017. Panneerselvam, popularly known as OPS, became an MLA for the first time when he was 50-years old in 2001. He was re-elected in 2006, 2011 and 2016.
He was the Chief Minister during 2001-02 when late J Jayalalithaa faced legal hurdles in holding the office. After she was convicted in an assets case in 2014, OPS was again named as Chief Minister by her and was the CM between 2014 and 2015. Following her death in December 2016, he was the CM for a brief period.