CHENNAI: AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami has released the party’s third and final list of 17 candidates, completing the slate for the pending constituencies in Chennai.
In a key contest, former Chennai Corporation Councillor P. Santhanakrishnan has been fielded as the AIADMK candidate in Kolathur, where he will face Chief Minister MK Stalin.
In Chepauk-Triplicane, the constituency of Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, the AIADMK has nominated its organizing secretary, Adhirajaram.
With this announcement, the party has now declared candidates for all 13 previously undecided constituencies in the Chennai region. Of the 16 total constituencies in Chennai, three have been allotted to alliance partners.
The final list follows two earlier two lists : the first phase included 23 candidates, and with the second list the party had added another 127 to cover a total 150 constituencies.
Alongside the Chennai seats, the party also announced candidates for the Tiruchuzhi constituency in Virudhunagar district and the Alangudi constituency in Tiruvarur district, which were also pending.
Other notable candidates in Chennai include former minister Valarmathi, who will contest from Thousand Lights, and former minister Gokul Indira, who has been nominated from Anna Nagar.
In a significant move, the party has allotted the Tiruvika Nagar constituency to Porkodi, the widow of the late BSP state president Armstrong. Currently the leader of the Tamil Manila Bahujan Samaj Party, she will contest on the AIADMK’s “Two Leaves” symbol.
The final list features six former MLAs, two former ministers, one former MP, and seven district secretaries, with no major surprises among the names announced.