BJP bets on AIADMK turncoat in Ramanathapuram LS seat

Nainar Nagendran in an unexpected move quit the AIADMK and crossed over to the BJP after the death of party supremo J Jayalalithaa. His main rival is Nawaz Kani, the candidate of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), which is an ally of the Secular Progressive Alliance led by the DMK.

With 15.52 lakh voters, Ramanathapuram is one of the biggest constituencies in the state, comprising of six Assembly segments spread in Ramanathapuram, Pudukkottai and Virudhunagar districts.

The six segments are Paramakudi, Thiruvadanai Ramanathapuram, Mudukulathur (all in Ramanathapuram district), Aranthangi (Pudukkottai dist) and the newly-created Thiruchuzhi (Virudhunagar dist). Of the six seats, four were won by the AIADMK and its allies in 2016 polls, while the rival DMK camp bagged the remaining two.

However, a look at the history shows that the Congress has been the most successful party in this coastal LS constituency as it has won six times.

The AIADMK (four times) and the DMK (three times) also have a strong presence in the constituency.

In a surprise move, the AIADMK denied the ticket to Anwhar Raajhaa, who won from this seat in the 2014 election.

Nainar Nagendran, a former minister in the Jayalalithaa government (2001-2006), is expected to have a strong challenge from his main rival Nawas Kani as the district has a significant number of Muslim voters.

Keeping in mind the strong Muslim vote bank in this segment, the DMK seems to have allotted the seat to one of its long-term allies, the IUML, which has nominated Nawas Kani.

Other major contestants in the fray are the AMMK, which has selected a local businessman, VTN Anand, and the Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM). Both AMMK leader TTV Dhinakaran and MNM leader Kamal Haasan are confident of polling considerable number of votes. While Dhinakaran believes that he would get a big chunk of votes of the dominant caste (Thevars), Kamal hopes to use his ‘son of the soil’ tag to canvas support for his candidate Vijayabhaskar.

Once a die-hard AIADMK functionary,he made headlines after the death of party supremo and former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. He quit the party in 2017 and moved to the BJP. He was elected as MLA twice from Tirunelveli Assembly constituency in 2001 and 2011. He held various ministries in the Jayalalithaa-led state government during his first tenure as MLA.

Nawaz Kani (IUML)
He is the managing director of ST Courier private limited. He shot to fame in the constituency with his philanthropic works. The first candidate to be announced in the DMK alliance, he will contest on the 'Ladder' symbol. He commenced the election work one month before the election dates were announced.