Six Elected Unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu, AIADMK Leader says Unaware about TVK’s Entry in NDA
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Mar 9: Six members to the Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu were declared elected unopposed on Monday, the last date of withdrawal of nominations.
Those declared elected included DMK’s Tiruchi Siva and J. Constandine Ravindran, AIADMK’s M. Thambi Durai, PMK’s Anbumani Ramadoss, Congress Christopher Manickam and DMDK’s L.K. Sudhish. Returning Officer R. Santhi declared them elected and handed over certificates to each of them.
As the number of valid nominations and the number of seats to be filled were the same, the candidates were declared elected unopposed, as per Section 53(2) of the Representation of People Act, 1951, and Rule 11(1) of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, she said. Mr Siva and Mr Thambi Durai and Mr Anbumani, whose terms are coming to an end, were re-nominated to the Rajya Sabha by their respective parties.
Mr Manickam and Mr Sudhish are being elected to the Rajya Sabha for the first time. The tenure of six Rajya Sabha seats from Tamil Nadu coming to an end on April 2 included N.R. Elango, P. Selvarasu, M. Thambi Durai, Tiruchi Siva and Kanimozhi N.V.N. Somu.
Of the six seats, depending on their strength in the Assembly, the DMK fielded two of its candidates, allotted one each to the Congress and DMDK, while the AIADMK fielded one of its candidates and allotted one to the PMK. Tamil Nadu has a total of 18 MPs in the Rajya Sabha.
Meanwhile, the AIADMK deputy general secretary K.P. Munusamy said he had “no information” about renewed attempts to accommodate the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) led by actor Vijay, in the AIADMK-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the State.
Mr Munusamy was reacting to the spokesperson of the state BJP urging the TVK chief to consider joining the NDA so that a division in anti-DMK votes could be prevented in the State. A week ago, the AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi had said there were chances of some more parties joining the alliance, as talks were in progress. Last Saturday former AIADMK Minister Sellur K. Raju, while responding to a question on certain issues concerning the personal life of the TVK leader, blamed the ruling DMK for orchestrating a “smear campaign” against Mr Vijay.
According to reports in sections of the media, Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and Jana Sena Party (JSP) president, K. Pawan Kalyan, had been trying to bring the TVK into the NDA. When he was in Chennai to address a public event in May last year, he told journalists that he did not want to underestimate Mr Vijay and his entry into politics. In his State, Mr Pawan Kalyan is viewed as someone who had played a key role in bringing the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the BJP together a few years ago and eventually, in unseating the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP), led by Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, from power in June 2024.
At one stage, both the AIADMK and BJP had openly courted the TVK. During Mr Palaniswami’s visit to Komarapalayam in Namakkal on October 8 last year as part of his State-wide tour to canvass people for support, a few persons held up the TVK flag, prompting the AIADMK leader to remark that “a beginning” had been made for the alliance.
This was after a stampede at the TVK leader’s rally in Karur in September in which 41 of his fan followers were killed. In the Assembly, the AIADMK staged a walkout over the Karur matter and Mr Palaniswami, speaking to reporters outside the Assembly chamber, had argued that the tragedy could have been prevented if the State government had ensured adequate police protection. However, in recent months, the Dravidian major and TVK have fallen out, with both sides criticising each other.
