Sasikala's nephew to contest from R K Nagar

 Disregarding the controversies surrounding the involvement of Sasikala’s family in the AIADMK, the party announced that the jailed general secretary’s nephew T T V Dinakaran would be its candidate for the R K Nagar bypolls.

On Wednesday, the rival DMK also announced N Marudhuganesh as its candidate for the seat, which fell vacant following the death of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa, who represented it in the Assembly.

Having been unanimously chosen by the AIADMK general council to contest the seat at the party headquarters, Dinakaran invited the BJP, Vijayakanth’s DMDK, the Left-led People’s Welfare Front and Vaiko’s MDMK to join hands with his faction of the AIADMK.

The party deputy general secretary, whose appointment to the post has been questioned by the rival O Panneerselvam camp, said he has no intentions of becoming the chief minister in the event of a victory at the bypolls. The DMK would contest the bypolls with the support of its allies Congress and Indian Union Muslim League.