CHENNAI: The AIADMK on Wednesday released its first list of 23 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections, with a strong emphasis on experienced leaders. Of the 23 nominees, 20 are former ministers, while 16 are sitting MLAs.
Party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami will contest from the Edappadi constituency. Other prominent candidates include KP Munusamy (Veppanahalli), Dindigul Srinivasan (Dindigul), Natham Viswanathan (Natham), and SP Velumani (Thondamuthur).
The list also features P Thangamani (Kumarapalayam), D Jayakumar (Royapuram), CVe Shanmugam (Mailam), Sellur K Raju (Madurai West), KP Anbalagan (Palacode), R Kamaraj (Nannilam), Kadambur Raju (Kovilpatti), RB Udhayakumar (Thirumangalam), KT Rajenthra Bhalaji (Sivakasi), Benjamin (Maduravoyal), Agri SS Krishnamurthy (Kalasapakkam), Rajan Chellappa (Tirupparankundram), KC Karuppannan (Bhavani), KC Veeramani (Jolarpet), MR Vijayabaskar (Karur), Thamarai S Rajendran (Ariyalur), OS Manian (Vedaranyam), and C Vijayabaskar (Viralimalai).
Among the key changes, CVe Shanmugam has been shifted from Villupuram to Mailam, while Agri S S Krishnamurthy has moved from Polur to Kalasapakkam. KT Rajenthra Bhalaji will contest from Sivakasi instead of Rajapalayam.
Of the 23 constituencies announced, 15 were won by the AIADMK in the last Assembly elections, while eight were secured by the DMK.