Karnataka polls: AIADMK announces candidate for one constituency

Tamil Nadu’s principal Opposition party, AIADMK, on Wednesday announced that it will contest one seat in the May 10 elections to the Karnataka Assembly by declaring a candidate for Pulakeshi Nagar constituency in Bengaluru.

D Anbarasan, Presidium Chairman of the Karnataka state AIADMK unit, will take on the Congress and BJP candidates in Pulakeshi Nagar. In a statement, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said Anbarasan has been chosen as the candidate for the May 10 elections by the Governing Council of the party.

Read | AIADMK to hold conference in Madurai on August 20

The decision comes after the AIADMK thought the BJP would spare a couple of constituencies for it to contest. In fact, expelled AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam had earlier this month written to B S Yeddyurappa expressing interest in contesting the elections in an alliance with the BJP.

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 sizeable 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 comes amid Palaniswami moving the Election Commission of India (ECI) seeking to ratify his election as General Secretary of the AIADMK. The ECI records continue to mention the previous arrangement of coordinator and joint coordinator, and the party believes it would mean the agency has recognized Palaniswami’s election if the party candidate is allotted the Two Leaves symbol.

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