Lok Sabha polls: DMK re-nominates 10 incumbent MPs, fields 11 new faces

The party renominated Dayanidhi Maran from Chennai (Central), Tamizhachi Thangapandian from Chennai (South), Kalanidhi Veerasamy from Chennai (North), S Jagathrakshagan (Arakkonam), T R Baalu (Sriperumbudur), and Kathir Anand (Vellore)

Chennai: Fielding 11 new faces, the DMK on Wednesday re-nominated 10 incumbent MPs, including senior leaders Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, T R Baalu, A Raja, and Dayanidhi Maran, from their respective constituencies for the April 19 Lok Sabha elections. 

Releasing the candidates' list, Chief Minister and DMK president M K Stalin said the party has given opportunities to 11 new faces, and three women.

Kanimozhi, DMK’s points person in New Delhi, will face the electorate for the second consecutive term from the southern port city of Thoothukudi, while former Union Ministers Baalu, Raja, and Maran will seek re-election from Sriperumbudur, Nilgiris, and Chennai (Central). 

Tamizhachi Thangapandian will seek re-election from Chennai (South), C N Annadurai (Tiruvannamalai), K Eswarasamy (Pollachi), S Jagathrakshakan (Arakkonam), and Darani Vendan from Arani. D M Kathir Anand, son of DMK general secretary Durai Murugan, has been re-nominated from Vellore, while Gautam Sigamani, son of former minister K Ponmudy, has been replaced with T Malaiyarasan in Kallakurichi.

Apart from Kanimozhi and Tamizhachi, Dr Rani is the third woman candidate, contesting from Tenkasi (SC) constituency. DMK is contesting in 21 seats after allotting the remaining 19 seats, including the lone constituency in Puducherry, to allies. 

Among the new faces, the prominent ones are T M Selvaganapathy, a veteran politician who cut his political teeth in AIADMK, from Salem, Arun Nehru, son of Municipal Administration Minister K N Nehru, from Perambalur, and K E Prakash, a youth wing functionary whose candidature was pushed by Stalin’s son and Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin from Erode.

Thanga Tamilselvan, who resigned as MLA of Andipatti in 2001 to enable the then Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to contest from there and was associated with the AIADMK for a long time, has been nominated from Theni in southern Tamil Nadu.

The choice of Ganapathi P Rajkumar, a former AIADMK mayor who joined the DMK in 2020, for the prestigious Coimbatore seat was surprising, and so was Murasoli from Thanjavur, replacing seasoned politician S S Palanimanickam. 

Rajkumar will face one of the tough battles as the last time a DMK candidate won from Coimbatore was in 1996, with the party losing in 1998, and 2014, while it allotted the seat to allies in 1999, 2004, 2009, and 2019. 

Coimbatore, where the DMK didn’t win any of the 10 assembly seats in 2021, is a key seat for the ruling party as it is under pressure to prove that it has gained the confidence of the people in three years. It will be an intense three-cornered contest as the AIADMK is traditionally strong in the city, and the BJP claims it has made major inroads. 

The dropping of DNV Senthilkumar S from Dharmapuri and replacing him with A Mani is significant as the former was involved in a slew of rows, including referring to north Indian states as “gaumutra states” in Parliament. 

Also, Senthilkumar is believed to be facing anti-incumbency and he came under attack for his outbursts against officials for organising a Hindu-style pooja for the foundation stone laying ceremony of a government project.