AIADMK announces candidates for RS, Vellore LS seats

The ruling AIADMK party on Saturday nominated former Ministers A. Mohammed John and N. Chandrasekaran as its candidates for the ensuing Rajya Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu, while it retained A.C. Shanmugam as its nominee for the Vellore Lok Sabha constituency.

The announcements came in two separate statements signed by party Coordinator and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam and Joint Coordinator and Chief Minister K. Palaniswami.

The AIADMK said one Rajya Sabha seat has been allotted to the PMK as per the electoral agreement signed with that party earlier.

The Rajya Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu will be held on July 18. while polling for the Vellore seat will take place on August 5.

The tenure of AIADMK's V. Maitreyan, K.R. Arjunan, T. Rathinavel, R. Lakshmanan, DMK's Kanimozhi and the CPI's D. Raja will end this month.

Kanimozhi was elected to Lok Sabha from Thoothukudi in the recently concluded elections.

In the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, the AIADMK has 123 members (including the Speaker), DMK 100, Congress seven, the IUML and Independent one each, with two seats vacant.