AIADMK withdraws candidate from Karnataka polls

Tamil Nadu’s principal Opposition party, AIADMK, on Monday announced that its lone candidate in the May 10 elections to the Karnataka Assembly will withdraw from the contest in Pulakeshi Nagar constituency in Bengaluru, following an appeal from the BJP leadership to do so.

In a statement, AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said D Anbarasan, Presidium Chairman of the Karnataka state AIADMK unit, will not contest from Pulakeshi Nagar as announced earlier. He filed his nomination papers last week after Palaniswami announced his candidature.

“Central observers of the BJP spoke to party general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami and requested that the AIADMK candidate withdraw from the contest. After we decided to accept the appeal of the BJP, Anbarasan has withdrawn from the electoral contest,” a statement from the AIADMK said.

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The AIADMK has had its presence in the Karnataka Assembly in the past with one of its leaders getting elected from Kolar, which has a sizable Tamil population. In 2008, the AIADMK and BJP explored the possibility of an electoral tie-up in Karnataka, but the efforts didn’t fructify.

The decision to field a candidate in Karnataka election came amid Palaniswami moving the Election Commission of India (ECI) seeking to ratify his election as General Secretary of the AIADMK. Within a day, the ECI allotted Two Leaves symbol to the AIADMK and recognized Palaniswami as the General Secretary.

In fact, political observers feel the AIADMK fielded its candidate in the Karnataka polls only to get the symbol and put an end to the claims by O Panneerselvam.

In 2018, Congress’ Akhanda Srinivasamurthy defeated B Prasannakumar of JD (S) from Pulakeshi Nagar seat.