R K Nagar by-poll: Veteran E Madhusudhanan is ruling party choice
The decision to field him was made at the governing council meeting of the AIADMK at its headquarters at Royapettah here.
Chennai: With the ruling AIADMK casting the die, party veteran E. Madhusudhanan, who is presidium chairman, will lock horns with T. T.V. Dhinakaran and DMK’s Marudhu Ganesh in the prestigious R. K. Nagar by-poll scheduled for Dec. 21.
The ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, on Thursday, named its presidium chairman as the candidate for the by-election at RK Nagar Assembly constituency.
The decision to field him was made at the governing council meeting of the AIADMK at its headquarters at Royapettah here. In a brief joint statement after the meeting concluded, deputy CM O. Panneerselvam, the coordinator of the party and CM Edappadi K. Palaniswami, the joint co-ordinator of the party, said, "as per the decision by the governing council, Madhusudhanan is being fielded as the AIADMK's candidate in R. K. Nagar by-election".
Initially, his candidature was opposed by Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar who wanted young blood to be fielded. He was later convinced about the choice of Mr. Madhusudhanan. As a sign of rapprochement, Mr. Jayakumar greeted him with a shawl shortly after his name was announced.
Mr. Madhusudhanan will file his nomination papers on Dec. 1, the day on which T. T. V. Dhinakaran and Marudhu Ganesh for whom the CPI and CPI (M) have pledged support, have also chosen to submit their papers before the Returning Officer.
Both Mr. Pannerselvam and Mr Palaniswami expressed their happiness at the candidature of Madhusudhanan, who had been a former minister and is a resident of R. K. Nagar. Interestingly, he was fielded by Mr Panneerselvam on behalf of the AIADMK Puratchi Thalaivi Amma faction on the earlier occasion in April this year, which was cancelled by the EC following large scale irregularities.