C Ve Shanmugam and R DharmarThe All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on Wednesday named former law minister and party’s Villupuram district secretary C Ve Shanmugam and Mudukulathur union secretary R Dharmar as its candidates for the biennial election to Rajya Sabha.
In a joint statement, AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam and co-coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami said that based on the suggestions by senior party functionaries during a meeting on May 19, they have nominated the candidates for the polls scheduled to take place on June 10.
#AIADMK nominates former minister C.Vee Shanmugam and Mudukulathur union functionary R Dharmar for Rajya Sabha polls. pic.twitter.com/MY2IicIe8N
— Janardhan Koushik (@koushiktweets) May 25, 2022
One of the senior leaders of the party, Shanmugam held the education and law portfolios with the previous AIADMK government, while Ramar served as the district secretary of Ramanathapuram.
Last week, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) extended their support to AIADMK candidates for Rajya Sabha though the parties are not in alliance currently. In a statement, PMK president GK Mani said that a group of AIADMK functionaries, including former ministers, visited PMK founder Dr Ramadoss and sought the party’s support.
“Following the visit of AIADMK leaders, Dr Ramadoss held a meeting with senior PMK leaders and it was unanimously decided to support the AIADMK candidates in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls,” Mani said.
TKS Elangovan, RS Bharathi and KRN Rajeshkumar of the DMK and A Navaneethakrishnan, SR Balasubramoniyan and A Vijaykumar of the AIADMK are the six retiring Rajya Sabha members from Tamil Nadu.
The ruling DMK had already named Thanjavur (North) district secretary Thanjai Su Kalayanasundaram and legal wing secretary R Girirajan as its candidates and renominated the party’s Namakkal unit head KRN Rajeshkumar for the polls.
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Even though the DMK had already allotted one seat to it as part of a pre-poll pact, the Congress is yet to announce its candidate.
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