Chennai, Mar 23 (IANS): Senior DMK leader and former Union Minister, Dayanidhi Maran is the party’s candidate from Chennai Central Lok Sabha seat and is seeking re-election for the fourth time.

Son of late Union Minister, Murasoli Maran and cousin of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, MK Stalin, the senior leader is highly connected in the DMK.

Dayanidhi Maran’s brother Kalanidhi Maran owns the popular South Indian television network Sun TV.

The 57-year-old Dayanidhi Maran had won from Chennai Central constituency in 2004, 2009 and in 2019.

In 2004, Dayanidhi Maran’s winning margin was 1,34,000 votes while in 2009 his margin of victory fell to 33,454 votes.

However in 2019, he won from Chennai Central constituency with a record margin of 3,01,520 votes as in 2019 the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance had won a whopping 38 of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu.

Dayanidhi Maran was the Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology in the Dr Manmohan Singh-led UPA government in 2004.

Dayanidhi Maran was instrumental in reducing the call rates of mobile phones and landlines, which led to an increase in the number of consumers and subscriptions.

However, he was accused in a case registered by the CBI for having an illegal telephone exchange at his residence. His brother Kalanidhi Maran and five other telecommunication department officials were also charged along with Dayanidhi. Later, a special CBI court had acquitted all the accused, saying the prosecution failed to prove the case.

Election analyst KR Mukundadas, while speaking to IANS said, “Chennai Central has traditionally been a seat of the DMK and Dayanidhi Maran’s victory margin of 3,01,520 votes would be difficult for the opposing candidates to overcome.”

The BJP has fielded a young lawyer, Vinoj P Selvam from the Chennai Central constituency while the AIADMK alliance has allotted the seat to DMDK senior leader, P Parthasarathy.