AIADMK announces candidates for all 32 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu; Full list here

The AIADMK, the main opposition party in Tamil Nadu, released its final list of 16 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls on Thursday. The party has also named its candidate for the lone Puducherry Parliamentary constituency. The AIADMK, which has broken its alliance with the BJP, will contest in 32 segments and it has allotted seven constituencies to allies - the DMDK, Puthiya Tamizhagam, and SDPI. 

Tamil Nadu has 39 Lok Sabha seats. For the Tirunelveli Lok Sabha seat, Palaniswami announced Simla Muthuchozhan who was formerly with the DMK. She had unsuccessfully contested in 2016 against late AIADMK matriarch J Jayalalithaa from the RK Nagar Assembly constituency. Daughter-in-law of former DMK leader SP Sarguna Pandian, Muthuchozhan joined the AIADMK recently. An advocate, she is also the only woman candidate announced by the AIADMK for the Lok Sabha polls. 

For the Vilavancode Assembly bypoll, the AIADMK has named a woman candidate. 

AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami named G Premkumar, a medical doctor, as his party candidate for Sriperumbudur and S Pasupathi, also a doctor for the Vellore seat. The ruling DMK has named veteran leader T R Baalu and Kathir Anand, son of top leader and Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan for Sriperumbudur and Vellore constituencies respectively. 

The AIADMK has named G Tamizhvendan and U Rani for the Puducherry Lok Sabha seat and Vilavancode Assembly constituency respectively. Bypoll to the Vilavancode segment in Kanniyakumari district will be held on April 19 alongside the Lok Sabha polls. The vacancy was caused due to the resignation of Vijayadharani, who joined the BJP after quitting her MLA post. 

Besides Sriperumbudur and Vellore, Palaniswami announced candidates for the Lok Sabha segments of Dharmapuri, Tiruvannamalai, Kallakurichi, Tirupur, Nilgiris (SC), Coimbatore, Pollachi, Tiruchirappalli, Perambalur, Mayiladuthurai, Sivaganga, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari. 

In the first list released on March 20, Palaniswami named nominees for 16 constituencies. It includes former MP J Jayavardhan (Chennai south) and ex-MLA, Dr P Saravanan (Madurai). Tiruvallur (SC), Central Chennai, Cuddalore, Thanjavur, and Virudhunagar are the five seats earmarked for the DMDK. Two other allies, the Puthiya Tamizhagam (Tenkasi) and SDPI (Dindigul) will fight one seat each. The All India Forward Bloc also supports the AIADMK alliance. 

The ruling DMK, out of the 21 Lok Sabha seats it is contesting, has given tickets to three women candidates. Kanimozhi (Thoothukudi), Tamizhachi Thangapandian (South Chennai) and Rani Sri Kumar (Tenkasi-Reserved). 

Polling for 39 Lok Sabha seats in the state will be held on April 19.

(With inputs from PTI)