Friday 18 March 2011
2G Scam fears: DMK top leaders move away from Chennai
Fearing possible fallout of the 2G spectrum scam among urbanites, the DMK top leadership on Thursday moved away from its traditional bastion of Chennai to safer seats with party president M Karunanidhi himself shifting to Cauvery delta to contest from his home turf of Tiruvarur.
Party’s No.2 in hierarchy, General Secretary K Anbazhagan was allotted Villiwakkam segment where the party had secured considerable lead in the last Lok Sabha polls.
Karunanidhi’s heir apparent and Deputy Chief Minister, M K Stalin, was earmarked suburban Kolathur, considered to be DMK’s stronghold as the segment gave a lead of over 20,000 votes to party’s North Chennai MP TKS Elangovan in the 2009 polls.
The switch in constituencies also comes about against the backdrop of DMK’s poll graph showing a downward spiral during the last two assembly polls in Chennai.
In 2006, the party managed to get only seven of the 14 seats it had contested. This time, the party has liberally given seats to its allies, Congress (5) and one each to PMK, IUML and VCK and Perunthalaivar Makkal Katchi.
In a bid to infuse young blood, the party has fielded 58 new faces. Women candidates figure in 11 constituencies with all the three Ministers including Dr Poongothai Aladi Aruna, a close friend of DMK MP and Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi, being renominated.
Two party seniors and Ministers Arcot N Veeraswamy and Ko.Si.Mani were not given tickets citing their ill-health as reasons. The party has given tickets to the wards of late NVN Somu and DMK Parliamentary Party Leader, TR Baalu.
Somu’s daughter, Dr Kanimozhi, has been named as party’s nominee for the Madhavaram seat while Baalu’s son, TRB Raja, an industrialist, will contest from Mannargudi.
The party has fielded an unknown face, N Anand, to take on AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa in Srirangam.
Party’s No.2 in hierarchy, General Secretary K Anbazhagan was allotted Villiwakkam segment where the party had secured considerable lead in the last Lok Sabha polls.
Karunanidhi’s heir apparent and Deputy Chief Minister, M K Stalin, was earmarked suburban Kolathur, considered to be DMK’s stronghold as the segment gave a lead of over 20,000 votes to party’s North Chennai MP TKS Elangovan in the 2009 polls.
The switch in constituencies also comes about against the backdrop of DMK’s poll graph showing a downward spiral during the last two assembly polls in Chennai.
In 2006, the party managed to get only seven of the 14 seats it had contested. This time, the party has liberally given seats to its allies, Congress (5) and one each to PMK, IUML and VCK and Perunthalaivar Makkal Katchi.
In a bid to infuse young blood, the party has fielded 58 new faces. Women candidates figure in 11 constituencies with all the three Ministers including Dr Poongothai Aladi Aruna, a close friend of DMK MP and Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi, being renominated.
Two party seniors and Ministers Arcot N Veeraswamy and Ko.Si.Mani were not given tickets citing their ill-health as reasons. The party has given tickets to the wards of late NVN Somu and DMK Parliamentary Party Leader, TR Baalu.
Somu’s daughter, Dr Kanimozhi, has been named as party’s nominee for the Madhavaram seat while Baalu’s son, TRB Raja, an industrialist, will contest from Mannargudi.
The party has fielded an unknown face, N Anand, to take on AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa in Srirangam.
