DMK will face archrival AIADMK in the April 24 Alandur bypoll, fielding local strongman R. S. Bharathy, who is also the party’s legal wing secretary.
DMK chief M. Karunanidhi named Mr. Bharathy as the party’s choice at a press conference in Chennai while announcing the list of 35 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls.
The by-election to the constituency will be held simultaneously with the Parliamentary polls.
AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa had last week announced V. N. P. Venkataraman as her party nominee for the Alandur seat.
The bypoll was necessitated following the resignation of former DMDK leader ‘Panrutty’ S. Ramachandran who had also quit the Vijayakanth-led party recently before joining AIADMK.
Mr. Bharathy, a former Chiarman of Alandur Municipality, had unsuccessfully contested the 2009 Lok Sabha polls from South Chennai on a DMK ticket. He had lost to AIADMK’s C. Rajendran then.
DMK and AIADMK had earlier faced off in the Yercaud (ST) bypolls in December 2013, which the latter won.
