Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) founder and actor Vijay has announced that he will be contesting from two constituencies - Tiruchirappalli East and Perambur - in the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections. He also named candidates for the other seat, including other senior leaders N Anand, Adhav Arjuna, R Arunraaj, CTR Nirmal Kumar and KA Sengkottaiyan.
While Vijay’s participation in the Perambur seat was almost certain, with TVK already starting a campaign in the constituency in the Chennai region, his candidature in Trichy East is seen as a means to ensure his victory in one seat, even if he suffers a setback in the other. The party was also on the search for a favourable constituency for the TVK chief with a large minority population, which pushed them to select Trichy.
As for Perambur, the DMK has a stronghold with its MLA DMK candidate R.D. Sekar securing 105,267 votes in the constituency. He defeated Dhanapalan, who contested on the Two Leaves ticket in alliance with the AIADMK, by a margin of 54,976 votes.
The AIADMK has set aside Perambur for its ally, PMK.
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Even Trichy East won’t be an easy ride for the actor-turned-politician. This constituency, which was called Trichy 1, was renamed Trichy East after the constituency reorganisation in 2008. In 2011, Manoharan from the AIADMK, and in 2016, former minister Vellamandi Natarajan, who contested on behalf of the AIADMK, won. But, DMK wrested the seat in 2021 when Christian Goodwill Movement leader Iniko Irudayarajan won in Trichy East by securing 94,302 votes, defeating Vellamandi Natarajan by a margin of 53,797 votes.
Though Vijay is eyeing the large minority population and the working-class communities in Trichy East, the same people act as the support base for Irudayarajan, too.
The AIADMK candidate in Trichy is Rajasekaran, while Krishnasamy is contesting for Naam Tamilar Katchi.
Vijay’s party believes that contesting from Trichy East, the heartland of Tamil Nadu, will give the party and him a role in the delta regions and southern districts, while contesting from Perambur will give him an edge in the state capital.
