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The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the major opposition grouping in Tamil Nadu, issued the list of its nominees on Monday for the Lok Sabha polls.
It did not name former Union minister M K Alagiri, elder son of party supremo M Karunanidhi, who was expelled from the party a few months earlier. The list has former Union ministers Dayanidhi Maran and A Raja, who were investigated for corruption charges in their handling of the telecom portfolio during their tenures.
While releasing the list, Karunanidhi said minor change would be made if required. The party announced candidates for 35 of the 39 constituencies; the other four were allotted for its four allies. Of the 35, as many as 13 are lawyers, three are doctors and one is an engineer. The youngest, 26, is a businesswoman, H Pavithravalli, an MBA graduate, contesting from Erode. She is one of the two women in the list.
To a question on inclusion of Raja and Maran, the DMK chief said, “There was no evidence against them. There is no strong case against them. They will prove that they did nothing wrong.” On Alagiri, he said, “Don’t hurt me by asking about him.”
"While Maran and Raja have retained their constituencies -- Central Chennaiand the Nilgiris, respectively, Thanjavur constituency was allocatedto Baalu, former Union Minister of Shipping, while his presentconstituency Sriperumbudur has been allotted to Jagathrakshakan. DMK Organising Secretary T K S Elangovan has been shifted to SouthChennai from his present North Chennai constituency.
Advocate Girirajan will contest from North Chennai.Afew other sitting MPs, including A K S Vijayan (Nagapattinam), haveretained their constituencies. The names of thirteen advocates, twodoctors and eight postgraduates appear on the list.Besides,Alagiri, his supporters D Napoleon and J K Ritheesh was not part ofthe list.
To a question on whether the DMK would support BJP's prime ministerialcandidate Narendra Modi, Karunanidhi said, "I and DMK partyled by me would like to have a secular government at the centre". He said DMK would have a role in any secular front formed in ademocratic way.
On roping in communist parties in the Alliance, he said, "We haveseen reports that CPI wants to come with us. But we haven't held anytalks with CPI leaders," said Karunanidhi, while refusing to decline to give a comment on whether DMK would ally with theCongress.Karunanidhi announced a candidate for Sivaganga, represented in Parliament by Finance Minister and Congress Leader P Chidambaram.
