AIADMK alliances announces constituency list

Tamil Nadu’s ruling AIADMK on Sunday retained just one Lok Sabha constituency in the state capital while giving away the remaining two to its partners – PMK and DMDK – as the party announced the list of seats to be contested by constituents of the rainbow alliance.

AIADMK has retained most of the constituencies in the Western region of the state where the party is quite strong and will field candidates in only three of the 10 constituencies in South Tamil Nadu. Retaining just one seat in Chennai also betrays the party’s nervousness in the wake of a double barrel challenge from a resurgent DMK and rebel T T V Dhinakaran.

The AIADMK had won all three seats in Chennai in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections – the DMK drew a blank in the state with AIADMK winning 37 seats and PMK and BJP winning one each.

For the first time, the AIADMK and DMK will have a direct contest only in 8 seats – South Chennai, Tiruvannamalai, Kancheepuram, Salem, Nilgiris, Pollachi, Mayiladuthurai and Tirunelveli. Congress and BJP will face each other in Sivaganga and Kanniyakumari, while the DMK and PMK will face each other in six constituencies.

While DMK is strong in Chennai, Dhinakaran is perceived to split the majority of the AIADMK votes owing to the support he enjoys among the dominant Thevars. In the North and Western part of the state as well, the AIADMK has allotted ‘tough constituencies’ to its allies like the DMDK and Tamil Maanila Congress, a splinter group of the Congress led by former Union Minister G K Vasan.

The PMK, which wields considerable influence in the Northern part of the state, will contest from Dharmapuri, Villupuram, Arakkonam, Cuddalore, Villupuram (SC), Dindigul, Sriperumbudur and Central Chennai. The DMDK led by actor Vijayakanth will contest from North Chennai, Virudhunagar, Kallakurichi and Tiruchirapalli.

The BJP, which was allotted five seats, will field candidates from Sivaganga, Thoothukudi, Coimbatore, Ramanathapuram and Kanniyakumari. While the New Justice Party will contest from Vellore, Puthiya Tamizhagam has been allotted Tenkasi (SC) seat.