The DMK on Sunday announced its list of 21 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, fielding party chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi’s elder son M K Azhagiri from Madurai.
Azhagiri, based in the temple town, will be contesting the Lok Sabha polls for the first time, and his elevation comes in the wake of his appointment as party’s south zone Organising Secretary following DMK’s thumping win in the Tirumangalam bye-elections early this year.
Union Ministers T R Baalu, A Raja and S S Palanimanickam and former IT Minister and Karunanidhi’s grandnephew Dayanidhi Maran have been renominated.
While some sitting MPs have been renominated, the party has dropped Union Ministers Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan and S Reghupathy.
The candidates list, released by Karunanidhi, has two women candidates, two actors and a few new faces, as hinted on Saturday by the DMK patriarch who said fresh blood could be infused this time.
Actors D Napolean and J K Ritheesh, the grandson of state minister Suba. Thangavelan, are from the tinseltown, while Helen Davidson and Gayathri Sridharan are the women debutants.
While Napolean has been a former MLA, Ritheesh is an up-and-coming actor and has turned out to be first time lucky.
{{/usCountry}}While Napolean has been a former MLA, Ritheesh is an up-and-coming actor and has turned out to be first time lucky.
{{/usCountry}}Other new names include S R Jeyadurai, party's legal wing secretary and a long-serving Chairman of the suburban Alandur Municipality R S Bharathy, T K S Elangovan and Tamarai Selvan.