CHENNAI: It was a politically significant moment for the Tamil Manila Bahujan Samaj Katchi leader, Porkodi Armstrong, who filed nomination papers to contest from the Thiru Vi Ka Nagar Assembly constituency on AIADMK's two-leaves symbol.
After being thrown out of the BSP, a party her slain husband Armstrong painstakingly bolstered in the State, she was flanked by AIADMK former minister D Jayakumar to the nomination, in a sign of her political revival.
Amid calls for protection of the Dalit leader, who is grieving the heinous murder of her husband and BSP top leader Armstrong, she is getting support from many fronts, including VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan and filmmaker Pa Ranjith. They have welcomed Porkodi's candidature and urged adequate security for the former BSP leader.
Porkodi, the widow of slain BSP state president Armstrong, has positioned her electoral entry as a fight for justice over his 2024 murder, which remains under investigation.
After her husband’s death, she briefly served as a BSP coordinator before parting ways and launching the Tamil Manila Bahujan Samaj Katchi on July 5 last year, coinciding with her husband's first death anniversary.
The Thiru Vi Ka Nagar constituency, particularly Perambur and surrounding areas, is seen as her stronghold owing to Armstrong’s support base and the working-class population.