Southern States - Tamil Nadu

NDA allies divided on two seats

By Our Tamil Nadu Bureau

CHENNAI April 27. The NDA allies will support the PMK candidate in the Acharapakkam Assembly constituency in the coming byelection, but are divided on Saidapet (Chennai) and Vaniyambadi. For the NDA in Tamil Nadu, which collapsed following the break in ties between the DMK and the State BJP, Acharapakkam may be the only electoral meeting point. The DMK, the MDMK and the State BJP will be supporting the PMK to retain the Acharapakkam seat, which fell vacant following the death of its MLA, A. Selvaraj.

The State BJP general secretary, L. Ganesan, said the PMK, which rejoined the BJP-led NDA at the Centre a few months ago, sought his party's support for the Acharapakkam seat. The State BJP election committee would meet on May 4 to take a decision.

Indications are the BJP would concede the request of the PMK founder, S. Ramadoss. The DMK will back the PMK nominee, and field its own candidates in Saidapet and Vaniyambadi, its president, M. Karunanidhi, announced today.

The MDMK general council, which met today in Erode, is believed to have given the nod for supporting PMK in that constituency. It will contest in the other two. With the DMK and the MDMK all set to contest in Saidapet and Vaniyambadi, the BJP is faced with a dilemma — whether to keep off the byelections, or support the MDMK or the DMK, in case the parties seek its support.

But the BJP functionaries in Vaniyambadi want the party to contest the seat. Though the constituency has mostly sent a Muslim to the Assembly, the BJP cadres hope to capitalise on a possible polarisation of votes. But, the party has no stakes in Saidapet.

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