AIADMK to back CPM candidates in RS polls

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagam (AIADMK) chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha on Thursday announced the list of four candidates for the ensuing biennial polls to the Rajya Sabha to fill   six vacancies, while offering support to the candidate to be nominated by the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Accordingly, Tirunelveli District Secretary S Muthukaruppan, Party Youth wing leader N Chinnadurai, AIADMK Women's Wing Secretary L Sasikala Pushpa and Tirunelveli District Women’s Wing Secretary Vijila Sathyanand are the party’s candidates for the Rajya Sabha poll.

Jayalalitha said that following a request from the CPM, the AIADMK has decided to extend its support to the candidate to be nominated by the Left party.

The term of six Rajya Sabha members from Tamil Nadu – A A Jinnah, T K Rangarajan, N Balaganga, Vasanthi Stanley, G K Vasan, Jayanthi Natrajan – will end on April 2 and the Tamil Nadu Assembly will elect six others to replace them.

The AIADMK, considering its massive majority in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, would easily win all the four seats it was contesting and would also ensure the victory of the fifth candidate to be nominated by the CPM by offering its spare votes.

The CPM has 10 MLAs and another Left party, the CPI, has eight members.  The Opposition DMK, with a strength of 23 MLAs, has nominated former MP Trichy N Siva as its candidate and was banking on the support of its allies to ensure his victory.

The dream of getting one Rajya Sabha seat for Vijayakanth-led DMDK is bleak since the Assembly seat strength of the party has come down to 21 with seven of its MLAs have defected and one legislator has resigned.