"Vote for NDA alliance and make Edappadi K. Palaniswami the CM again": Annamalai

Tiruchirappalli (Tamil Nadu) [India], April 20 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader K Annamalai on Sunday urged people to vote for Edappadi K. Palaniswami and make him the Chief Minister again.

"Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa was elected from the Srirangam constituency and later became the Chief Minister...I appeal to the public to vote for the NDA alliance and make Edappadi K. Palaniswami the Chief Minister again," Annamalai said during a campaign event in Tiruchirappalli on Sunday.

AIADMK General Secretary and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami is once again contesting from his stronghold, Edappadi.

The upcoming elections to elect the 234-member Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu have shaped Edappadi into a three-cornered fight featuring Palaniswami for the AIADMK, C. Kasi for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), and Priyadharshini for the Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK).

C Kasi is a seasoned local political figure within the DMK's Salem district unit, officially announced as the candidate for the Edappadi seat as part of the party's broader strategy to field strong local faces against top opposition leaders.

Priyadharshini, on the other hand, represents the NTK. Her background is consistent with the NTK's governance model, rooted in Tamil identity, self-sufficiency, and ecological preservation, challenging that of the traditional Dravidian majors.

Edapaddi has been a traditional AIADMK bastion for over a decade, and its political importance is tied heavily to Palaniswami's leadership.

In 2021, he won with a record-breaking margin of 93,802 votes, securing 163,154 votes against DMK's T Sambathkumar, who polled 69,352 votes. The voter turnout that year was 90.23% out of a total electorate of 274,079.

In the 2016 election, Palaniswami also emerged victorious but with a smaller margin of 42,022 votes, receiving 98,703 votes in a more divided contest where N Annadurai of the PMK came second with 56,681 votes, and P A Murugesan of the DMK stood third with 55,149 votes.

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