Chennai, March 4 The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) is likely to nominate senior party leader M. Thambidurai and Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) President Anbumani Ramadoss as candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections from Tamil Nadu, scheduled for March 16.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) issued the notification for the Rajya Sabha elections on February 18, with the nomination process beginning on February 26. The last date for filing nominations is March 5.
Based on its current strength in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and the support of its alliance partners, the AIADMK-led alliance is considered well placed to secure two seats in the Upper House of Parliament.
According to party sources, one of the two seats has been allocated to the PMK, a key ally in the AIADMK-led front. PMK President Anbumani Ramadoss is expected to be the party’s nominee for the seat.
The second seat is likely to go to senior AIADMK leader M. Thambidurai, a former Union minister and former Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha, who currently serves as a Member of Parliament.
The decision to allot one Rajya Sabha seat to the PMK was taken at a meeting of the AIADMK executive committee.
Announcing the arrangement, AIADMK General Secretary and Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami said the PMK would contest one of the two seats in the Rajya Sabha election scheduled for March 16.
The AIADMK’s strength in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly has declined since the 2021 Assembly elections, when the party had won 66 seats.
Several MLAs later resigned after joining the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), including O. Panneerselvam, Manoj Pandian, R. Vaithilingam, K. Ayyappan and K.A. Sengottaiyan.
In addition, Valparai MLA Amul Kandasamy passed away, further reducing the party’s numbers.
As a result, the AIADMK currently has around 60 MLAs in the Assembly.
However, the party is expected to receive support from its alliance partners, including three MLAs from the PMK and four MLAs from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
With this backing, the AIADMK-led alliance could muster around 66 votes, which is considered sufficient to ensure the victory of two candidates in the Rajya Sabha election.
With the numbers appearing favourable, the AIADMK leadership is confident of sending both its nominee and its ally’s candidate to the Upper House in the upcoming polls.
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