2019 Indian Parliamentary Election April 11 to May 19,2019 - DMK announced its candidates for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections on Sunday March 17,2019

 

 

The DMK on Sunday March 17,2019 announced its candidates for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, going for well-known faces for the Parliamentary polls and fielding relatively newer names for the state elections.

Much like the AIADMK, which will have children of politicians enter the fray this time, the DMK has fielded Kadhir Anand, son of DMK treasurer Durainurugan, former minister Arcot Veerasamy's son Kalanidhi Veerasamy and long-time DMK leader Ponmudi's son Gautama Sigamani.

The DMK, which is heading the Secular Progressive Alliance, has retained the three Parliamentary constituencies in Chennai, while allotting the other major urban constituencies, Madurai and Coimbatore, to the CPI(M) and Tiruchi to the Congress.

Besides the Chennai South, North and Central seats, the DMK has picked seven other seats — Sriperumbudur, Kancheepuram (SC), Kallakurichi, Arakonam, Cuddalore, Tiruvannamalai and Vellore — in northern Tamil Nadu, considered its traditional stronghold. This accounts for 50% of the party’s 20 seats.

In southern T.N., the DMK will field candidates in Dindigul, Tenkasi (SC), Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli. Rajya Sabha member M.K. Kanimozhi will test the electoral waters for the first time from Thoothukudi. Former Union Minister T.R. Baalu is returning to Sriperumbudur, which he won in 2009.

The VCK, which had sought a general constituency, has been given two reserved constituencies, Chidambaram and Villupuram.

Ramanathapuram has been given to the IUML.

The DMK allotted Tiruppur and Nagapattinam to the CPI. The allotment of Nagapattinam showed the party’s flexibility in dealing with allies, as the constituency was represented for three consecutive terms by the DMK’s A.K.S. Vijayan — in 1999, 2004 and 2009.