The AIADMK and its ally have fielded a mix of old and new faces for the Lok Sabha constituencies in the central region.
Five-time Lok Sabha MP and AIADMK veteran M. Thambidurai will try his luck for the third time in a row from the Karur Parliamentary constituency. The 72-year-old, who is the party’s propaganda secretary, had earlier won from Karur in 1989, 1998, 2009 and 2014. Prior to that, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Dharmapuri in 1984.One of the senior most members of the AIADMK, Mr. Thambidurai is now the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha - a post which he had held earlier for four years from 1985 to 1989.
Though a native of Krishnagiri district, Karur has remained his favourite political ground in electoral battles if the series of victories he had attained from the same constituency over the years is any indication.
He had earlier held portfolios including Law, Justice, and Company Affairs, Surface Transport in 1998-99 and had been a State Education Minister in 2001-02.
The AIADMK has fielded another of its senior members N. R. Sivapathi, as its nominee for the Perambalur Parliamentary constituency this time. This is Mr. Sivapathi's maiden contest in a Lok Sabha poll although he was an MLA twice having been elected from the erstwhile Thottiyam Assembly constituency and from the Musiri Assembly segment in the 1991 and 2011 polls respectively. A post graduate in Economics and a degree holder in Law, 56-year-old Sivapathi has occupied several positions in the party. It was during his second tenure as an MLA in 2011 that he was made a Minister by the party's late leader Jayalalithaa and held the portfolios of School Education, Law and Youth Welfare before being removed from the Cabinet. A native of Natham village in Tiruchi district, Mr. Sivapathi is a well-known face in the party which has nominated him as the candidate of the Perambalur Parliamentary constituency encompassing six assembly segments of which four are in Tiruchi district. Belonging to the Muthuraja community which has a sizeable presence in the Perambalur Parliamentary constituency, Mr. Sivapathi will cross swords with Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi - an ally of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the first time contender Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK). In the delta region, the party has nominated Thazhai M. Saravanan of Thazhaikudi near Tiruvarur as its candidate for the Nagapattinam Parliamentary (Reserve) Constituency. An MBA graduate, Mr. Saravanan is the organiser of the Koradacheri unit of the party’s Ilaignar-Ilampen Pasarai.
In Mayiladuthurai, where the party will take on DMK in a direct contest, the party has fielded former MLA, S. Asai Mani, 64, of Enangudi in Thirumarugal block, Nagapattinam district.
Mr. Asai Mani was former Kuttalam MLA and is currently chairman, Kumbakonam Central Cooperative Bank.
DMDK candidate
The Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam's (DMDK) presidium chairman V. Elangovan is the party's nominee for the Tiruchi Parliamentary constituency.
A medical practitioner by profession, Dr. Elangovan is not new to poll battles having contested from the Dharmapuri Parliamentary constituency in the 2009 general election as the party's nominee. He had unsuccessfully contested from the Dharmapuri Assembly constituency in the 2016 Assembly elections.
However, Dr. Elangovan will be a new face in Tiruchi as he hails from Dharmapuri district. Sixty-eight-year-old Elangovan was the DMDK Dharmapuri district secretary for a period of 10 years from 2007 to 2017.
TMC candidate
The Thamizh Maanila Congress (TMC0 has fielded N. R. Natarajan of Thambikottai in Thanjavur district, as its candidate for the Thanjavur Parliamentary Constituency. Hailing from a family that owes allegiance to the Congress for decades, Mr. Natarajan an engineering graduate presently holds the honorary president post of Pattukottai Traders Association and also the executive committee member post in Thyagabrahma Sabha, Thiruvaiyaru.
Bypoll candidates
The Thanjavur District Milk Producers’ Cooperative Federation president, R. Gandhi has been fielded as the AIADMK candidate for the by-election to the Thanjavur Assembly constituency. Holding a Bachelor degree in Education, Mr. Gandhi serves as the Thanjavur South District Students wing secretary from 1999.
The party has chosen former minister R. Jeevanandham as its candidate for the by-election to the Tiruvarur Assembly constituency. A native of North Poigainallur, he served as the Agriculture Minister during the 1991-96 period under former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.
