: Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Vaiko will contest from the Virudhunagar constituency. Soon after Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh announced formation of a six-party alliance in Tamil Nadu for the Lok Sabha election, the MDMK released the list of candidates who would contest from the seven constituencies allotted to it.
“Virudhunagar is the birth place of the great leader Kamaraj. It is also the pride of Tamil Nadu for its fireworks and matches industry. I have given my best to the constituency…Virudhunagar is close to my heart,” Mr. Vaiko told The Hindu .
The MDMK leader will launch his campaign at Silaiman near Madurai on March 23. “I have made an appeal to BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi to visit Tamil Nadu and address people in the birth place of Kamaraj. I hope he will come,” he said. A three-time member of the Rajya Sabha, Mr. Vaiko was twice elected to the Lok Sabha from the Sivakasi constituency. In the 2009 Parliament elections, he was defeated by Congress candidate B. Manik Tagore in Virudhunagar.
The MDMK was among the first parties to join the BJP alliance in the State. The party candidates who would contest from the other constituencies are – Mallai Sathya (Kancheepuram), A. Ganesamoorthy (Erode), Masilamani (Sriperumbudur), K. Alagusundaram (Theni), Sadan Thirumalai Kumar (Tenkasi) and S. Joel (Tuticorin).
