DMK Rajya Sabha MP and late party chief M. Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi, former Union ministers T.R. Baalu, Dayanidhi Maran and A. Raja are among the prominent candidates to be fielded by the DMK for the high-stake April 18 Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu.
Kanimozhi will test her electoral waters for the first time from Thoothukudi which recently was in news for the police firing during the anti-Sterlite protests that claimed lives of 13 people.
Raja and Maran will seek re-election from their strongholds of Nilgiris and Central Chennai.
Baalu, former Union shipping minister, will contest from Sriperumbudur while Kalanidhi Veerasamy, son of former minister Arcot N. Veerasamy, is the candidate in North Chennai.
Former Union minister S. Jagathrakshagan, Kadir Ananth, son of DMK treasurer Durai Murugan, and Tamizhachi Thangapandian, daughter of late DMK veteran Thangapandian, will contest from Arakkonam, Vellore and South Chennai respectively.
The list of candidates, which included 13 new faces, was released by party president M.K. Stalin.
The DMK is contesting in 20 seats on its own after having allotted the remaining 20 seats, including the lone Puducherry seat, to its allies—Congress, Left, VCK, IJK, MDMK and KDMK.
This is the first elections that the DMK is facing after the death of Karunanidhi in August last year. Before releasing the list, Stalin drove to the memorial of his father to pay respects. He also visited the memorial of DMK founder C.N. Annadurai.
The DMK will contest from Thoothukudi, Thanjavur, Chennai South, Chennai North, Chennai Central, Kancheepuram (SC), Arakkonam, Pollachi, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Sriperumbudur, Vellore, Dharmapuri, Salem, Nilgiris (SC), Kallakurichi, Tiruvannamalai, Dindigul, Cuddalore and Mayiladuthurai.
