The ruling AIADMK and the principal opposition DMK will be locked in a straight contest in eight Lok Sabha seats — Chennai South, Kancheepuram (SC), Tiruvannamalai, Tirunelveli, Mayiladuthurai, Salem, Nilgiris (SC) and Pollachi.
Both parties on Sunday fielded former Ministers and kin of leaders in Lok Sabha and 18 Assembly constituencies, besides giving opportunity to some fresh faces. The AIADMK retained just six sitting MPs, including Deputy Lok Sabha Speaker M. Thambi Durai in the 20 seats it is contesting. It nominated the sons of Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam and MLA Rajan Chellappa in Theni and Madurai respectively.
The DMK released the list of candidates for 20 Lok Sabha constituencies fielding prominent faces like T.R. Baalu, A. Raja, Dayanidhi Maran, S.S. Palanimanickam, S.Jagathrakshagan and Kanimozhi. Besides, it fielded the kin of former Ministers Duraimurugan, K. Ponmudi, Thangapandian and Arcot N. Veerasamy.
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Brothers in fray
Interestingly in the Andipatti Assembly seat, the DMK’s Maharajan is pitted against his brother Logirajan of the AIADMK.
In Namakkal and Perambalur, the AIADMK’s ‘Two Leaves’ will be pitted against the DMK’s ‘Rising Sun’ symbol on which the KMDK and IJK would contest. In Vellore, the DMK will fight the New Justice Party.
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The AIADMK on Sunday released the list of constituencies from where its candidates and those of its allies the PMK, the BJP, the DMDK, the PT, the NJP, the TMC and the AINRC would contest.
The DMK will face the PMK in Dharmapuri, Arakkonam, Sriperumbudur, Dindigul, Cuddalore and Chennai Central. It will face the DMDK in Chennai North and Kallakurichi, the BJP in Thoothukudi, the TMC in Thanjavur, New Justice Party in Vellore and the Puthiya Tamilagam in Tenkasi (SC).
The AIADMK will fight the Congress in Tiruvallur (SC), Krishnagiri, Arni, Karur and Theni and the MDMK in Erode. Its candidates will be locked in a battle with the CPI in Nagapattinam (SC) and Tiruppur and the CPI(M) in Madurai.
(This article has been corrected for a factual error)