Former minister and dissident AIADMK MLA Thoppu N.D. Venkatachalam, who was denied a ticket to contest in the ensuing Assembly election, filed his nomination as an independent in the Perundurai Assembly constituency on Thursday.
Said to be in loggerheads with Minister for Environment K.C. Karuppannan, the two-time legislator from Perundurai was denied a ticket and the party fielded J.K. alias S. Jeyakumar, a supporter of the Minister. Mr. Venkatachalam recently held discussions with his supporters and expressed his disappointment over the party’s decision and announced that he would contest as an independent.
On Thursday, he took out a march along with his supporters from Perundurai Four Roads to the Tahsildar Office and filed his papers with Returning Officer M. Illahi John.
He told reporters it was heartbreaking to know that people who worked for the party were not given a chance to contest in the election.
The former minister listed out various development works that he executed in the constituency in the past 10 years and added that the drinking water problem had been sorted out. “I have set an example to how an MLA has to be,” he said and expressed the confidence that people would support him.
