For Lok Sabha polls, AIADMK focuses on western Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI: The ruling AIADMK is banking heavily on the State’s western belt, from where Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami hails, for the Lok Sabha polls. 
Of the 20 seats the party is contesting, six fall in the western region. The party has allotted most of the seats in the southern belt to allies and is contesting in two of the four key delta districts.
While the ruling party is contesting in only one of the three constituencies in Chennai, it is contesting in five seats from the north and north-western regions. 

AIADMK’s allies DMDK and PMK will field their candidates in Chennai North and Chennai Central constituencies respectively. In the southern region, traditionally considered an AIADMK stronghold, the party is contesting only in three constituencies out of 10 — Madurai, Tirunelveli and deputy chief minister’s home constituency Theni. Though contesting in Mayiladuthurai and Nagapattinam, which are significant constituencies in the delta region, the party gave away Thanjavur and Tiruchy to its allies. Similarly, the ruling party allocated the Thoothukudi constituency, which saw major protests over the Sterlite issue, to the BJP.

AIADMK coordinator and deputy CM O Panneerselvam and joint coordinator Palaniswami released the list of constituencies to be contested by partners in the alliance on Sunday.  

only 6 sitting mps get tickets
 AIADMK released its candidate list for the Lok Sabha polls and bypolls to 18 Assembly seats late on Sunday. The party has accommodated only six of its 37 sitting MPs with LS Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai getting a ticket from Karur. Deputy CM O Pannneerselvam’s son P Ravindranath Kumar has been picked to contest from Theni.

BJP State president Tamilisai Soundararajan and party’s national secretary H Raja were present on the occasion while leaders of other allied parties were absent. Absence of representatives of DMDK and PMK, two major allies in the AIADMK-led front, raised eyebrows. However, AIADMK leaders sought to downplay it saying the leaders of the these parties had already signed the seat-sharing agreements and there was no problem. PMK and DMDK sources too expressed similar views and asserted that there was no dissatisfaction.

The BJP is facing the Congress in two constituencies – Kanniyakumari and Sivaganga – while it faces the CPM in Coimbatore, IUML in Ramanathapuram and DMK in Thoothukudi. Constituencies to be contested by other parties in the AIADMK-led alliance are: NR Congress (Puducherry), TMC (Thanjavur), Puthiya Thamizhagam (Tenkasi) and New Justice Party (Vellore).
Responding to reporters’ queries, Soundararajan said the first list of candidates of BJP was expected on Sunday night or Monday. She had rushed to New Delhi to finalise the candidate list.
Constituencies AIADMK contesting

Chennai South, Kancheepuram (SC), Tiruvannamalai (SC), Salem, Namakkal, Erode, Tirupur, The Nilgiris (SC), Pollachi, Krishnagiri, Karur, Perambalur, Chidambaram (SC), Nagapattinam (SC), Mayiladathurai, Madurai, Theni, Tirunelveli , Tiruvallur (SC) and Arni. The constituencies allocated for PMK are: Chennai Central, Sriperumbudur, Arakkonam, Dharmapuri, Dindigul, Villupuram (SC) and Cuddalore. 

Former councillor in Salem
The AIADMK has given its Salem ticket to former councillor K R S Saravanan. Born in 1974, Saravanan, a lawyer by profession, joined AIADMK in 1992. He has served as a ward councillor in SCMC limits between 2011-2016. When he contested from Salem North Assembly constituency in 2016, he was defeated by DMK candidate