CHENNAI: In no mood to let in even allies into its fortress, the ruling DMK has ceded just one seat – Velachery – out of the 16 core city seats to an alliance partner. Of the 15 seats, 12 will see DMK and the AIADMK locking horns directly.
In a rejig to infuse fresh blood, however, the party has replaced at least six sitting MLAs with younger or more vocal candidates, including a first-time GCC councillor A P Poornima in Ambattur.
Making clear its intent to make rivals sweat, the party fielded its own candidate in Perambur, where TVK chief Vijay is expected to make his electoral debut. DMK’s R D Sekar has been renominated in the seat. Chief minister M K Stalin who will contest from Kolathur for the fourth time and deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin from Chepauk-Triplicane for the second time, and it is up to AIADMK now to choose its thoroughbreds in the election race. In the immediate suburbs too, DMK has retained most of its candidates, including minorities minister S M Nasar for Avadi, MSME minister T M Anbarasan for Alandur, A Krishnasamy for Poonamallee, Ganapathy for Maduravoyal and S Sudharsanam for Madhavaram. Ambattur, where first-time councillor Poornima has been given the party ticket, is the only exception. Also, she is the only woman in the list of DMK candidates in Chennai and surrounding areas.