Sitting legislators and sons of prominent leaders are among 33 candidates fielded by the Congress on Tuesday to contest the May 16 Assembly polls as part of the DMK-led alliance. The party is yet to announce candidates for the remaining eight seats.
Its three sitting legislators — K. Gopinath (Hosur), J.G. Prince (Colachel) and Vijayadharani (Vilavancode) — have been given tickets from the same constituencies. Former MLA and businessman H. Vasanthakumar will once again contest from Nanguneri in south Tamil Nadu.
According to party sources, the names for eight constituencies are being withheld as the youth Congress leaders in Tamil Nadu are demanding a share of seats. In Chennai, the candidate for Mylapore has not been announced.
The seat is reportedly being sought by rival camps on behalf of actor and national spokesperson Khushboo and former Deputy Mayor Karate R. Thiyagarajan. An important inclusion in the list is A.M. Munirathanm, former district president of the Tamil Maanila Congress, who rejoined the Congress along with former MP Peter Alphonse just last week. He will contest in Sholingar.
T.K. Rajeshwaran, son of veteran T.K. Kaliyannan, who was elected to the first Constituent Assembly and a member of the Kumaramangalam family, has been fielded from Sankagiri.
Former Youth Congress leader Mayura S. Jayakumar will contest in Coimbatore (South) constituency, while G. Jerome Arokiaraj, the nephew of late Congress MP Adaikalaraj, is being fielded in Tiruchirapalli (East).
Former Union Minister Su. Thirunavukkarasar’s son S.T. Ramachandaran has been nominated from the Arantangi constituency.
The party has fielded former MLA and MP P.V. Rajendran in Vedaranyam constituency. K.R. Ramasamy, a five-time MLA and a supporter of former Union Minister P. Chidambaram, is the candidate for Karaikudi.
The candidate for Tenkasi is Palani Nadar, chairman of Surandai Town Panchayat. Mr. Hassan Moulana, the son of former MP J.M. Aaron Rashid, will contest in Ambattur.
