Political rivalry between the two major Dravidian parties seems to run in families too. Vellore constituency will witness one such contest as siblings will fight each other in the May 16 Assembly elections.
DMK’s P. Karthikeyan, who was earlier Mayor of Vellore Corporation, has been fielded against his brother P. Neelakandan, the AIADMK’s candidate. The DMK will contest in 10 out of the 13 constituencies in the district.
Katpadi, which has been the DMK’s stronghold in Vellore district for nearly two decades, has once again been allotted to former Minister Durai Murugan. He will for the second time contest against AIADMK’s Appu S.R.K. alias S. Radhakrishnan.
In 2011 Assembly elections, the senior DMK leader won by a close margin – he polled 75,064 votes, while Mr. Radhakrishnan obtained 72,091.
Vellore East district secretary R. Gandhi has been fielded in Ranipet constituency. He had lost to AIADMK’s A. Mohammed John in the 2011 elections, after winning from the same constituency in the 2006 elections.
Like him, K. Rajamarthandan, who was defeated by CPI’s K. Lingamuthu in the last elections, has been fielded again from Gudiyatham constituency.
The DMK has fielded three women candidates in Arakkonam, Kilvaithinankuppam and Jolarpet constituencies.
