Thiruvarur bypoll: DMK names Poondi Kalaivanan, AMMK to field S.Kamaraj

The Election Commission had earlier announced that polling for the Thiruvarur constituency would be held January 28 with counting on January 31. Candidates have to file their nominations by January 10. The ruling AIADMK’s governing council meeting on Saturday is expected to take a call on its nominee.

Including Thiruvarur, there are totally 20 constituencies in Tamil Nadu which are functioning without their elected representatives as 18 MLAs have been disqualified and — two MLAs AISDMK’s AK Bose and DMK MLA M.Karunanidhi — have died.

Speaking to the reporters today in Thanjavur after announcing his party candidate TTV Dinakaran, said: “Political parties would be well aware of what happened in RK Nagar bye-election in 2017, the same will happen in Thiruvarur too. People of Tamil Nadu are clear about whom they wanted to elect; no silver-coins can buy them.”

Dinakaran won the RK Nagar bye-election in 2017 by a margin of 40,707 votes and became the first independent candidate to win a bye-election in the history of Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu speaker P Dhanapal disqualified 18 MLAs in September last year under the anti-defection law after they met the Governor and expressed their lack of confidence in Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy. The disqualified MLAs filed a plea in the Madras High Court challenging the Speaker’s decision. In October 2018, the court upheld the Tamil Nadu Speaker’s decision.

Meanwhile, Naam Thamizhar Katchi led by Seeman announced Tamil Muzhakkam Sahul Hameed as its candidate for the Thiruvarur bye-polls. Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan has said he would make an announcement in two days whether his party Makkal Needhi Maiam would be contesting in the bypolls.