Chennai, Mar 21 (IANS): Tamil Nadu's opposition AIADMK on Thursday released its second and final list of 17 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections in the state as well as adjoining Puducherry, fielding several new faces and one woman.
Of Tamil Nadu's 39 Lok Sabha constituencies, the AIADMK will contest 32 seats, leaving five seats to its ally, the DMDK, and one each to the Puthiya Tamilagam, and the Social Democratic Party of India. It will also contest the sole seat of Puducherry.
The second list, released by party General Secretary and former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami at the party headquarters here, comprises comparatively new faces except for three.
It also features one woman - Shimla Muthuchozhan, daughter-in-law of DMK leader and former minister, S.P Saranga Pandian. Muthuchozhan, who will contest from Tirunelveli, joined the party earlier this month after quitting the DMK, which had fielded her against late AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa in the 2016 Assembly elections.
The party had faced criticism after its first list of 16 candidates in Tamil Nadu did not have any women candidates.
The second list also includes three-time MLA R. Kumaraguru, who defeated DMDK leader and actor, Vijayakanth in the 2016 state polls but lost to his DMK rival in 2021, from Kallakurichi, and Singai T. Ramachandran, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad and son of former party MLA Govindarasum, from Coimbatore.
Ramachandran was made the AIADMK IT Wing's Secretary by Jayalalithaa but was replaced with ‘Aspire’ K. Swaminathan in March 2016. When the party split in February 2017, Ramachandran was with the camp led by former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam.
The other candidates are G. Premkumar (Sriperumbudur), S. Pasupathi (Vellore), R. Ashokan (Dharmapuri), M. Kaliyaperumal (Tiruvannamalai), P. Arunachalam (Tiruppur), Karthik Appusamy alias A. Karthikeyan (Pollachi), P. Karuppiah (Tiruchi), N.D. Chandramohan (Perambalur), P. Babu (Mayiladuthurai); Panagudi A. Xavierdoss (Sivaganga), R. Sivasami Velumani (Thoothukudi), Basiliyan Nazareth (Kanniyakumari) and D. Lokesh Tamilselvan (Nilgiris-SC).
G. Tamilvendan will contest from Puducherry.