The DMK’s list of candidates for the upcoming election for Tirunelveli Corporation wards is full of surprise as novices have been given tickets while the party heavyweights have been shown the door.
Though DMK heavyweights and former MLAs N. Maalai Raja and A.L.S. Lakshmanan, with an eye on the mayoral post, had submitted their applications, they have been sidelined. After losing the Assembly polls, both Mr. Maalai Raja and Mr. Lakshmanan, who were keeping low profile for sometime, desperately wanted to underline their presence in the political arena with a big bang and the upcoming election for Tirunelveli Corporation gave them the much-needed opportunity.
While Mr. Maalai Raja was known as the staunch supporter of ‘Madurai Strongman’ M.K. Alagiri, Mr. Lakshmanan’s poor performance as Tirunelveli MLA have denied them the tickets, the party sources said. However, the denial of tickets has made the political road ahead of them really tough.
Former Deputy Mayor K. Muthuramalingam, DMK councillors of Tirunelveli Corporation Rajakumari, Gopi alias Namasivayam, S.V. Suresh and Arun Kumar, all winnable candidates, have been denied tickets while former councillors P. Subramanian, Kandan, Revathi Ashok, Francis and a few others have been fielded again.
Even though A. Prabhakaran, son of former Speaker R. Avudaiyappan, was so hopeful of entering the fray with an eye on mayoral post, he has been denied ticket. “It is not a surprise for us as all the factions of the DMK and those who had defected to the AIADMK from the DMK showed unprecedented unity in denying ticket to Mr. Prabhakaran or spoiling his chances,” said a former woman councillor from DMK.
Former councillor of ward 1 Madhava Ramanujam of AIADMK was sceptical about contesting the election this time as Mr. Maalai Raja was eyeing the ticket in the DMK for this ward. If Mr. Madhavan had to take on Mr. Maalai Raja, the result would have been a close call. Since Mr. Maalai Raja has been denied ticket, a much-relieved Mr. Madhava Ramanujam has gleefully entered the fray to take on debutant K. Raju of DMK.
For ward 12 of Tirunelveli Corporation, former councillor S.V. Suresh’s wife Gogula Vaani had submitted her application. However, one Mala was fielded as DMK candidate in the ward that triggered murmur among the locals, who threw their weight behind Ms. Gogula Vaani. Subsequently, Ms. Mala withdrew herself from the race on Tuesday and Ms. Gogula Vaani has been fielded as the DMK’s candidate.
