ADMK, DMK will lock horns in 8 LS seats

Tamil Nadu ruling Anna DMK and main opposition DMK will lock horns in 8 Lok Sabha seats. This became evident as the ADMK-BJP front on Sunday announced the list of constituencies allotted for their partners.

The list of constituenices was announced by Deputy Chief Minister and ADMK co-ordinator O. Pannerselvam in the presence of Chief Minister K Palaniswami and BJP leaders Tamilisai Soundararajan and H. Raja.

The ADMK will contest in 20 seats, down by 17 from the seats it won in 2014. It will fight in Salem, Namakkal, Krishnagiri, Erode, Karur, Thiruppur, Pollachi, Aarani, Thiruvannamalai, Chidambaram, Perambaloor, Theni, Madurai, Nilgiri, Tirunelveli, Nagappatinam, Mayiladuthrai, Tiruvallur, Kanchipuram and South Chennai.

The PMK that contests in seven seats has been allotted Dharmapuri, Villupuram, Arakonam, Cuddalore, Central Chennai, Dindigul, Sripreumbudur. PMK leader Dr Anbumani Ramadoss is expected to seek re-election from Dharmapuri, the only seat it won in 2014 in an alliance with the ADMK and BJP.

BJP retains Kanyakumari, the only seat it won last time. Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan will be candidate again. Other BJP seats this time are Sivaganga, Coimbatore, Ramanathapuram and Thoothukudi.

State unit president of BJP Tamilisai Soundararajan may be fielded from Thoothukudi against DMK leader Kanimozhi.

Vijayakanth’s DMDK gets Kallakurichi, Tiruchirapalli, North Madras and Virudhunagar. DMDK deputy secretary LK Sudheesh may be contesting from Kallakurichi.

GK Vasan’s Tamil Maanila Congress has been given Thanjavur, while Puthiya Needhi Katchi gets Vellore, Puthiya Thamizhagam will contest from Tenkasi (R) and All India NR Congress from Pudhucherry.

In the 2014 polls, the ADMK had won 37 of the 39 seats. The DMK and the Congress which fought separately drew a blank. The PMK and BJP won one each.

This is the first election after the death of former chief ministers and Tamil Nadu’s tallest leaders J. Jayalalithaa and M. Karunanidhi and an acid test for the leadership of Panneerselvam and Palaniswami in ADMK and MK Stalin in the DMK who has already proposed the name of Congress president Rahul Gandhi as Prime Ministerial candidate.