Vijayakanth picks Ulundurpet, Anbumani Pennagaram

 DMDK president and chief ministerial candidate Vijayakanth on Monday announced that he would contest in Ulundurpet constituency in the May 16 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

Ulundurpet, which is close to Vijayakanth’s wife Premalatha’s native, is in Villupuram district. Since Vijayakanth had a good support base there even during his acting period, the DMDK chief felt the seat could be won easily. Moreover, the DMK is not contesting in Ulundurpet, which could also brighten Vijayakanth’s prospects. The DMK has given the seat to Manitha Neya Makkal Katchi, a small ally.

The DMDK is contesting the polls in alliance with the People’s Welfare Front comprising MDMK’s Vaiko, two Left parties, VCK and G K Vasan led Tamil Maanila Congress. The DMDK, which was allotted 104 seats under the seat-sharing agreement, released the final list of 11 candidates on Monday.

In the 2011 elections, which Vijayakanth faced as an ally of the AIADMK, he won from Rishivandhiyam and his party won 29 seats and became the main Opposition party in the Assembly, pushing the DMK to third place. However, the DMDK snapped ties with the AIADMK after heated exchanges in the Assembly and faced the 2014 Lok Sabha polls as an ally of the BJP-led NDA that also included the MDMK, PMK and other parties. But the DMDK could not even secure a single seat.

Anbumani’s choice

The caste-based PMK’s chief ministerial candidate and former Union health minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss will contest from Pennagaram segment in Dharmapuri district. Anbumani would be testing his electoral prospects in the Assembly polls for the first time.
A sitting Lok Sabha MP from Dharmapuri, Anbumani is at present the PMK’s Youth Wing president. He was elected to Parliament in the 2014 general elections as an ally of the BJP-led NDA. But the PMK quit just before the announcement of election dates.

Releasing its list of 90 candidates, including seven women contestants, the PMK said party president G K Mani will contest from Mettur constituency in Salem district, while sitting MLA A Ganesh Kumar will be contesting from Gingee. Pennagaram is a stronghold of the PMK, from where G K Mani was twice elected to the Assembly in 1996 and 2001.

After failing to get any major ally, the PMK decided to go alone in the polls and came out with ambitious projects in its election manifesto, which also includes bringing prohibition on liquor.