DMK names Shanmugham, Wilson for RS, 1 seat to MDMK

DMK president MK Stalin on Monday announced the candidate names, putting to bed at the nick of time rumours fueled by a few party functionaries about a member of the party president’s family being nominated to the upper house.

The DMK would apportion the third seat to the MDMK as per the electoral pact reached during the recently concluded Parliamentary elections. With the DMK plus its ally Congress having required strength in the House, election of the three DMK nominees to the Rajya Sabha should be a mere formality.

Secretary of Advisory Committee on Amendment of Rules of the party, advocate Wilson was understood to have been rewarded for not only his loyalty to the party but also illustrious career as party advocate during which he had won some landmark cases, including the latest one securing space to bury the mortal remains of deceased former DMK chief M Karunanidhi on Marina in August 2018, a watershed moment in the party history.

Wilson had also handled some sensational cases for the DMK like shifting of new secretariat building from Omandurar Estate and Anna Memorial Library, case against reservation in local body election in 2016, transfer of Gutkha scam probe to CBI. Sixty-six-year-old Wilson held the office of additional advocate general of Tamil Nadu during 2006-11 DMK tenure and additional solicitor general (south India) in August 2012 for High Courts of Madras, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and their benches.

Shanmugham (77), a native of Thanjavur, who has been serving in the DMK labour wing since 1970s, was instrumental in the LPF spreading to 19 states. An ex-army man turned labour leader who went to become the general secretary of LPF, Shanmugham was assured a Rajya Sabha berth by Karunanidhi who had nominated TKS Elangovan in previous instance. LPF led by Shanmugham had played an instrumental role in Stalin’s electioneering in 2016 Assembly polls.