AIADMK nominates ex-MLAs Inbadurai and Dhanapal for Rajya Sabha seats

CHENNAI: General Secretary of the AIADMK Edappadi K Palaniswami on Sunday announced former MLAs IS Inbadurai and M Dhanapal as the party’s candidates for the Rajya Sabha biennial elections scheduled for 19 June.

Deputy General Secretary of the party K P Munusamy, in a brief media interaction, stated that Inbadurai and Dhanapal would be fielded on behalf of the AIADMK in the biennial polls. He also confirmed that the DMDK remains part of the AIADMK alliance and that the party has assured the DMDK of Rajya Sabha seats in 2026. “We are making this announcement only after confirming the decision with them (the DMDK),” said Munusamy, responding to a question about retaining the two seats for the AIADMK, despite an earlier agreement with its ally, the DMDK, ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls regarding RS seat allocation.

Party sources said that Palaniswami reassured DMDK Treasurer KL Sudhish during their hour-long meeting at the former’s camp office on Greenways Road on Friday, that the AIADMK would honour its promise of allocating a Rajya Sabha seat in 2026. “Our leader played it cleverly by retaining the two seats for the party and also the alliance with the DMDK for the assembly. They will get one of the seven RS seats that would be vacated in April next year,” added the source.

It may be recalled that DT Next carried a report a couple of days ago that the AIADMK is unlikely to share RS seats with the alliance.

Since the party had already given opportunities to candidates from prominent communities, it chose opted for Dhanapal, who hails from the Scheduled Caste community, and Inbadurai, a Christian Nadar from Tirunelveli district and the General Secretary of the party’s state legal wing, taking into account social and electoral calculation. The choice of Indabdurai also ensured minority representation and also supported the party’s legal related issues, including the legal battle over party symbol in ECI, in the national capital.

However, the party leadership refrained from fielding a candidate from the Muslim community, despite the persistent efforts of former minister Anwhar Raajhaa. “What is the use of giving a seat to a Muslim candidate? They’re not going to vote for us anyway and We saw that in the Lok Sabha polls last year,” said a former minister, who was also in the race for a Rajya Sabha seat, speaking on condition of anonymity.

ALSO READ: DMK announces candidates for RS polls: Kamal Haasan’s MNM gets one