Chennai, March 11- The DMK on Monday released its candidate list for the 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu and the lone seat in Puducherry.
The list includes 2G scam-tainted A Raja too. He has been fielded from his sitting constituency Nilgiris.
The party has dropped 10 candidates from its present strength of 18 MPs. The prominent among those denied tickets include former ministers MK Alagiri, SS Palanimanickam and actor-turned-politician Nepolean.
Eight among the sitting MPs have been given tickets. They include former ministers TR Baalu, Gandhichelvan, Dayanidhi Maran Jagathratchagan. There are only two women in the list.
The DMK has already allotted five seats to its small allies, which includes a couple of Dalit outfits and another two Muslim parties.
Later talking to media after releasing the list, DMK president M Karunanidhi justified A Raja’s nomination.
“There is no credible evidence against Raja and the case is collapsing,” he said when a journalist asked whether fielding tainted leaders such Raja and Jagatratchagan will be politically correct for the party.
Jagatratchagan too is also facing a CBI inquiry in connection with a private medical college admission scam.
Among the three former ministers given tickets, two of them have shifted their constituencies. While Baalu has moved from Sriperumbudur to Thanjavur, Jagathratachagan has moved from Arakonam to Sriperumbudur.
Another former minister, Dayanidhi Maran, retained his central Chennai constituency, which he is holding since 2004 Lok Sabha elections.
Central Chennai is almost like a family property for the Marans as Dayanidhi’s father and former union minister Murasoli Maran held it for several years.
Murasoli Maran is the nephew of Karunanidhi.
Regarding the inclusion of the CPI and the CPM in the DMK-led front, Karunanidhi said he would not say “sorry” if both of them decided to take a positive decision in this regard.
However, when asked whether the DMK has any timeframe for the return of Left parties into its fold, the party patriarch said: “Being a mature, gentle and seasoned party, the DMK does not believe in issuing ultimatums”.
It should be noted that after both the Left parties decided on March 6 to walk away from the AIADMK-led front following itches in seat sharing, the DMK is wooing them by offering two seats each.
Observers say that the DMK heir apparent, party treasurer and Karunanidhi’s son M.K. Stalin is further strengthening his iron grip over the party with Monday’s list.
“The exclusion of names like former ministers S.S. Palanimanickam, Napoleun and actor-turned-politician Ritish clearly prove that Stalin is on the rampage. All these three and few others in the left out list are all Alagiri’s strong supporters. Now Stalin is purging Alagiri supporters and entrenching himself in the DMK’s parliamentary block,” said R.A.R. Kannan, a senior journalist.
Karunanidhi announced that DMK’s election manifesto will be released on Tuesday.
-Indiatoday
