NEW DELHI: The BJP on Thursday released a list of nine candidates to contest from Tamil Nadu in Lok Sabha elections which will be held in 7 phases starting April 19.
Among the big announcements, the BJP has fielded state president K Annamalai from Coimbatore constituency and former Telangana governor Tamilisai Soundarajan from Chennai South. Soundarajan had recently resigned sparking speculations of her electoral contest.
Annamalai will be locked in a three-way contest against AIADMK’s Singai G Ramachandran and DMK’s Ganapathy P Rajkumar. In a surprising move, the DMK, after ten years of giving the seat to the CPM, has decided to field its own candidate Ganapathy, who is a former mayor of Coimbatore.
The Coimbatore constituency, which has featured importantly in the BJP’s electoral push into Tamil Nadu ever since the blast that occurred during LK Advani’s visit in 1998, has also hosted BJP MPs and MLAs.
Considered among its strongholds, the BJP will field Pon Radhakrishnan from Kanyakumari. Contesting for the tenth time on a BJP ticket, the former union minister has contested from Kanyakumari since 2009 and won it in 2014. He will be up against Congress candidate Vijay Vasanth in this election.
In Chennai South, Tamilisai Soundarajan, days after resigning from her constitutional post as governor, will contest against sitting MP Tamizhachi Thangapandian of the DMK alliance and J Jayavardhan of the AIADMK.
In another contest that will be keenly watched, BJP’s Vinoj Selvam will be squaring off against veteran two time DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran in Chennai Central, widely considered a DMK bastion.
In Thoothukudi, the BJP will field Nainar Nagendran, who is a sitting MLA, against senior DMK leader and two time MP Kanimozhi.
Other candidates announced include minister of state L Murugan from Nilgiris and C Narasimhan from Krishnagiri.
Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi (IJK) Chief TR Paarivendhar will contest from Perambalur, while AC Shanmugam will be fielded in Vellore.
INDIA alliance intact
While the INDIA bloc has suffered some setbacks at the national level, the DMK-led alliance in Tamil Nadu is more or less on the same lines and intact.
The DMK-led alliance, which won the 2019 Lok Sabha by a landslide, agreed on 9 seats in the state and one in neighboring Puducherry for the Congress and 21 for the DMK.
In the 2019 LS polls, the alliance managed to bag 38 out of the 39 seats, with Congress winning 8 of the 9 contested.
“Our Victory alliance continues for the 2024 General election also,” Tamil Nadu CM Stalin said announcing the deal.
Cadres “should do groundwork thinking ‘MK Stalin’ is the candidate in all 40 constituencies,” he added.
NDA Alliance
Unlike the INDIA alliance, the NDA has faced some setbacks after AIADMK snapped ties with the BJP and pulled out of the national alliance.
Though in need of allies, AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami recently announced that the party had severed ties with the saffron party and quit the NDA fold as per a ‘unanimous decision’ of party office-bearers reflecting the sentiments of two crore cadres.
However, there are key parties that have joined the NDA fold. Expelled AIADMK leader O Paneerselvam has joined BJP and joined the national bloc.
Among the big announcements, the BJP has fielded state president K Annamalai from Coimbatore constituency and former Telangana governor Tamilisai Soundarajan from Chennai South. Soundarajan had recently resigned sparking speculations of her electoral contest.
Annamalai will be locked in a three-way contest against AIADMK’s Singai G Ramachandran and DMK’s Ganapathy P Rajkumar. In a surprising move, the DMK, after ten years of giving the seat to the CPM, has decided to field its own candidate Ganapathy, who is a former mayor of Coimbatore.
The Coimbatore constituency, which has featured importantly in the BJP’s electoral push into Tamil Nadu ever since the blast that occurred during LK Advani’s visit in 1998, has also hosted BJP MPs and MLAs.
Considered among its strongholds, the BJP will field Pon Radhakrishnan from Kanyakumari. Contesting for the tenth time on a BJP ticket, the former union minister has contested from Kanyakumari since 2009 and won it in 2014. He will be up against Congress candidate Vijay Vasanth in this election.
In Chennai South, Tamilisai Soundarajan, days after resigning from her constitutional post as governor, will contest against sitting MP Tamizhachi Thangapandian of the DMK alliance and J Jayavardhan of the AIADMK.
In another contest that will be keenly watched, BJP’s Vinoj Selvam will be squaring off against veteran two time DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran in Chennai Central, widely considered a DMK bastion.
In Thoothukudi, the BJP will field Nainar Nagendran, who is a sitting MLA, against senior DMK leader and two time MP Kanimozhi.
Other candidates announced include minister of state L Murugan from Nilgiris and C Narasimhan from Krishnagiri.
Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi (IJK) Chief TR Paarivendhar will contest from Perambalur, while AC Shanmugam will be fielded in Vellore.
INDIA alliance intact
While the INDIA bloc has suffered some setbacks at the national level, the DMK-led alliance in Tamil Nadu is more or less on the same lines and intact.
The DMK-led alliance, which won the 2019 Lok Sabha by a landslide, agreed on 9 seats in the state and one in neighboring Puducherry for the Congress and 21 for the DMK.
In the 2019 LS polls, the alliance managed to bag 38 out of the 39 seats, with Congress winning 8 of the 9 contested.
“Our Victory alliance continues for the 2024 General election also,” Tamil Nadu CM Stalin said announcing the deal.
Cadres “should do groundwork thinking ‘MK Stalin’ is the candidate in all 40 constituencies,” he added.
NDA Alliance
Unlike the INDIA alliance, the NDA has faced some setbacks after AIADMK snapped ties with the BJP and pulled out of the national alliance.
Though in need of allies, AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami recently announced that the party had severed ties with the saffron party and quit the NDA fold as per a ‘unanimous decision’ of party office-bearers reflecting the sentiments of two crore cadres.
However, there are key parties that have joined the NDA fold. Expelled AIADMK leader O Paneerselvam has joined BJP and joined the national bloc.
