BJP finalises names for 6 TN seats; PMK-DMDK row almost resolved

On the eve of BJP president Rajnath Singh’s arrival here on Thursday to formally announce the party’s alliance in Tamil Nadu, the State unit finalised the list of candidates for six of the eight Lok Sabha constituencies allocated to it in the seat-sharing talks with allies.

The tussle between two of the allies, the PMK and the DMDK, over seats was also nearly resolved.

On Wednesday night, the PMK was able to get seven — Dharmapurai, Krishnagiri, Arni, Arakkonam, Chidambaram (Reserved), Mayiladuthurai and Vellore — of the eight constituencies on its wish list. Negotiations were continuing for the Tiruvannamalai or Cuddalore seat.

In the BJP, its choice of seats has narrowed the chances of several senior leaders aspiring to contest. A State Election Committee source said Tamil Nadu BJP president Pon. Radhakrishnan would enter the fray in Kanyakumari, which seat he won in 1999 but lost in the subsequent elections.

H. Raja has to settle for Sivaganga

The former State president, C.P. Radhakrishnan, has been allotted Coimbatore, and other senior leaders, L. Ganesan and H. Raja, will be fielded in Chennai (South) and Sivaganga respectively. Mr. Raja had to settle for Sivaganga though he preferred Ramanathapuram, sources said.

While S. Gurumurthy, a youth wing leader, has been renominated in the Nilgiris (Reserved), which he lost in 2009, Ramanathapuram, according to the sources, is likely to be allotted to D. Kuppuramu, an RSS functionary and convener of the Rameswaram Rama Sethu Protection Movement.

A senior leader said the party could not finalise the names for Vellore and Thanjavur as “they had to be adjusted with the preference of the allies.”

“A reworked list was submitted to the central leadership on Wednesday. Mr. Singh is likely to announce the candidates for all eight constituencies on Thursday,” said the leader. Mr. Pon. Radhakrishnan and Mr. Muralidhar Rao had taken the list to Delhi for approval.

Tamilisai left in the lurch

This means senior leader and national secretary Tamilisai Soundararajan has been left in the lurch as her preferred constituency, Sriperumbudur, is likely to be allotted to the MDMK. In a similar case, another prominent leader, Vanathi Srinivasan, could not be accommodated in Coimbatore or Tirupur. It is unclear whether she will be given any other seat.