The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on Tuesday formed a 34-member panel for the coming Sankarankoil Assembly by-election.
The panel has 26 Ministers including O. Panneerselvam, K.A. Sengottaiyan, Natham R. Viswanathan and S. Sundararaj. Among the other members are P.H. Pandian, president of the All World MGR Mandram; Pollachi V. Jayaraman, election wing secretary of the party and R. Rajalakshmi, Member of Legislative Assembly, according to a party release issued by Jayalalithaa, general secretary and Chief Minister.
The Ministers who did not figure in the committee were P. Palaniappan, Higher Education Minister; V. Moorthy, Dairy Development Minister; K.A. Jayapal, Fisheries Minister; Mukkur N. Subramanian, Information Technology Minister; A. Mohammedjan, Backward Classes Welfare Minister and M.S.M. Anandan, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister.
Last month, the party announced S. Muthuselvi, chairperson of the Sankarankoil Municipality, as its candidate.
Another release stated that the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam's election wing secretary K. Jagaveerapandian; labour wing leader G. Velmurugan and Tiruvannamalai district secretary and former Member of Legislative Assembly I.R. Jaison Jacob were among those who joined the ruling party in the presence of Ms. Jayalalithaa at the party headquarters.
Mr. Velmurugan, who was the DMDK's candidate in the election in October last year to the post of Mayor of Chennai Corporation, polled about 1.42 lakh votes and forfeited deposit.
In the 2006 Assembly elections, he contested in Villivakkam and finished third, polling 51,892 votes.
Mr. Jagaveerapandian was in different parties and he once headed an organisation – Social Justice Party.
Mr. Jaison Jacob was earlier in the AIADMK and in the 1991 Assembly elections, he was elected from Arni.
Ibrahim Rawther, film producer and friend of the DMDK founder president Vijayakant, and V. Gopalakrishnan of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam also became members of the ruling party. Like Mr Jacob, it was a case of homecoming for Mr. Gopalakrishnan as he was elected from the Sankarankoil Assembly constituency on the AIADMK ticket in the 1991 elections.
Members and functionaries of other parties including DMK, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Communist Party of India also joined the AIADMK.
Welcoming them, the AIADMK general secretary said that the confidence that the new members had reposed in her party would not go waste.
