Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], March 22 : Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) spokesperson TKS Elangovan, on Sunday, said the party will finalise its candidates before the nomination process begins on March 30 for the Tamil Nadu assembly elections.
He added that the party is meeting applicants and will complete seat-sharing talks with its allies in time for the polls.
Speaking to ANI, Elangovan said, "We are meeting this evening. Our leader is meeting all the candidates who have applied for seats... The nomination process starts on the 30th of this month. We still have more than a week's time. Before the 30th, we will settle everything, because we must announce it before that. The process begins on the 30th and continues until the 5th, so we have plenty of time."
Tamil Nadu will go to the polls in a single phase on April 23, with counting scheduled for May 4. The current tenure of the 234-member state assembly ends on May 10.
Earlier in the day, Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi president T Velmurugan announced that his party is exiting the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led alliance ahead of the elections, asserting political independence and rejecting what he described as a "big brother attitude."
"We will not tolerate a big brother attitude or treatment of us by anyone. We are coming out of the DMK-led alliance. We will not join the NDA at any cost. We will announce our alliance very soon," Velmurugan said.
Velmurugan revealed that during seat-sharing negotiations, the DMK had offered his party just one seat, which TVK refused to accept.
"Instead, the party placed 10 key demands focusing on farmers, fishermen, and marginalised communities. According to him, these demands, raised repeatedly in the Assembly over the years, were not taken seriously by the government."
He alleged that the DMK leadership was uncomfortable with TVK raising independent policy demands, especially when other alliance partners did not adopt a similar stance.
The polls will be a contest between the ruling DMK-led alliance and the AIADMK-led NDA in the state. Actor-turned-politician Vijay has also thrown a hat in the ring by launching TVK.
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