Earlier in the day, Kanimozhi visited the memorial of former Tamil Nadu Chief Ministers and late DMK leaders C N Annadurai and M Karunanidhi at the Marina beach in Chennai to pay her tribute. (Express)
Sitting Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP Kanimozhi, daughter of former Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Karunanidhi, would once again seek mandate from Thoothukudi as she filed her application on Tuesday seeking party’s ticket to contest in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Amid the rousing reception of party cadres, Kanimozhi submitted the application form with a fee of Rs 50,000 at the DMK headquarters Anna Arivalayam in Chennai. She was accompanied by DMK ministers Geetha Jeevan, Anitha Radhakrishnan, and various party functionaries from Thoothukudi.
Earlier in the day, Kanimozhi visited the memorial of former Tamil Nadu Chief Ministers and late DMK leaders C N Annadurai and M Karunanidhi at the Marina beach in Chennai to pay her tribute.
MP and DMK Deputy General Secretary Kanimozhi Karunanidhi filed her application seeking party ticket to contest from the Thoothukudi Lok Sabha seat. #LokSabhaElections2024#TamilNadu
@IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/hKTpx8ceLJ— Janardhan Koushik (@koushiktweets) March 5, 2024
Addressing reporters at the memorial in Chennai, Kanimozhi said she has worked for the past five years in Thoothukudi and understands the issues in the district and the expectations of the people and hence she believes that she needs another chance to contest from the constituency.
“After I get formally announced as the party’s candidate for the Lok Sabha polls, I will share the list of welfare measures and schemes I will be carrying out in the constituency,” she said.
On Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scathing attack on DMK during his Chennai rally on Monday, Kanimozhi retorted that such criticisms are borne out of fear of facing defeat in elections. “As they (BJP) know that there is no chance for them to win here (Tamil Nadu), they think it is better to at least level criticisms,” she said.
Kanimozhi, who had contested from Thoothukudi in 2019, won by a massive margin of 3.47 lakh votes against BJP’s Tamilisai Soundararajan. Earlier, Kanimozhi served as a Rajya Sabha MP.
Thoothukudi constituency covers a total of six assembly constituencies, including Vilathikulam, Thoothukudi, Tiruchendur, Srivaikuntam, Ottapidaram and Kovilpatti.
The DMK is yet to officially name their candidates as the seat-sharing talks with their alliance partners including Congress, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) is yet to reach a desired result.
The DMK has entered into a pact with the Left parties, Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi and Indian Union Muslim League. While CPI and CPI(M) were allotted two seats each, the other two parties have been given one seat at Namakkal and Ramanathapuram.