AINRC has fielded Nedounzejiane for the Thattanchavady Assembly byelection being held along with the April 18 Lok Sabha polls.
Mr. Nedounzejiane will be up against K. Venkatesan of the DMK.
Mr. Nedounzejiane filed his nomination with the Returning Officer Smitha at the office of the Registrar of Cooperative Societies in Thattanchavady. Shortly after, Mr. Venkatesan submitted his papers.
Gowri of Naam Tamizhar Katchi too filed her papers. Scrutiny of nominations will be taken up on March 27 and the last date for withdrawal of nominations is March 29.
Left upset
The DMK candidature had stirred up a controversy with the CPI getting upset. It eventually took the intervention of the top leadership of the Congress and the DMK to bring the ally around.
As a party that was formed after splitting the Congress, the AINRC banks on grassroots support during elections.
At the same time, it eyes alliances with non-Congress national parties as the Union Territory’s fortunes are tied to the dispensation at the Centre.
In the 2014 Parliamentary polls, the AINRC allied with the BJP, and won — its candidate R. Radhakrishnan defeating then MoS in the PMO and now Chief Minister V. Narayansamy. This time around it has in its front the AIADMK, the BJP and the PMK.
