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

CHENNAI: Unwilling to waste any time in preparing for the Rajya Sabha polls, the ruling DMK on Wednesday announced its candidates for the June 19 biennial Rajya Sabha polls, barely a couple of days after the Election Commission of India notified the poll schedule.

The DMK allocated one of its RS seats to actor Kamal Hassan's Makkal Neethi Maiam, honouring the electoral commitment it made in 2024.

The DMK high command has fielded its Salem district secretary SR Sivalingam and joint secretary of the party media wing poet Salma besides re-nominating senior advocate P Wilson.

An announcement made to this effect by Chief Minister and party president MK Stalin also put to bed speculation surrounding the re-nomination of MDMK general secretary Vaiko who has been denied ticket as per the electoral understanding reached between the two parties during last year's Lok Sabha polls.

While the renomination of Wilson and Sivalingam was not surprising, inclusion of Salma in the list was a fallout of outgoing Rajya Sabha MP MM Abdullah's decision to build his political muscle in the state, instead of Delhi, using the 2026 Assembly polls. The electoral and social calculations of the DMK was also evident in its candidate selection.

In picking Salma, the DMK has hit two birds with one stone – fielding a woman and a Muslim to replace another minority member (Abdullah). Also, rewarding the loyalty and intellect of a long-time party functionary would also satisfy aspirants in the party, reasoned a party senior unwilling to be quoted. In the same vein, nominating Wilson, a Christian, would bode well for the secular credentials of the party ahead of an election year.

Sivalingam's appointment is also seen as a perfect balancing act by the high command to restore bonhomie in an eternally squabbling Salem DMK unit.

The other two party district secretaries in Salem hold positions as minister ('Panamarathupatty' Rajendran) and Lok Sabha MP (T M Selvaganapathy). Sivalingam, a long-time loyalist of Stalin, was sulking for a while.

"In accommodating him as one of the party RS nominees, the high command has balanced power in the Salem unit. Now, all three hold elected positions,” said the DMK senior.

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THE DMK FACES

SALMA: Born Rokkaiah Malik in a modest Islamic family, Salma had also served as the chairman of Pennadampatty town panchayat in Trichy. The joint secretary of the DMK media wing had contested unsuccessfully from Marungapuri constituency in the 2006 Assembly poll. Salma had also served as the head of the Tamil Nadu Social Welfare Board. Well known in intellectual circles as a poet, her poems and novels earned international recognition, even translated into many global languages, including Armenian.

SR SIVALINGAM: A long-time party loyalist who grew in the shadow of deceased party heavyweight Veerapandi S Arumugam in the 1980s, SR Sivalingam is the secretary of Salem East party district. Appointed secretary of integrated Salem district in 2012 after the demise of Arumugam, his wings were clipped later when the party district was trifurcated later. After unsuccessfully contesting from Panamarathupatty in 1984 and six times altogether, the DMK old timer was elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly twice in 1989 and 1996. The high command has rewarded him after denying him a Kallakurichi LS ticket in 2024.

WILSON: A sitting RS MP and senior advocate of the Madras High Court, Wilson rose to fame in the DMK after winning the case in Madras High Court to raise a memorial for the late CM on Marina. Wilson also served as additional solicitor general of the Union government and additional advocate general of the Tamil Nadu government.