After days of uncertainty, the BJP on Friday declared its State vice-president and educationist N. Subramaniam, as its candidate for the Srirangam by-election, making the contest four cornered.
It took several rounds of talks by State BJP president Tamilisai Soundararajan and Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan to convince DMDK president Vijayakant to extend his party’s support to the candidate, sources in the BJP said.
Mr. Vijayakant, the sources said, took the decision despite considerable opposition to the BJP within his party following the meeting between AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley last Sunday. Also, the DMDK had fared poorly in the Srirangam Assembly segment in the Lok Sabha election, polling just over 19,000 votes despite being in the alliance.
