Chennai: After seat-sharing arrangement in the Secular Progressive Alliance was announced by the DMK chief M K Stalin yesterday, the CPI(M) and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) named their candidates for three Lok Sabha constituencies allotted to them.
It has been said that former Lok Sabha MP P R Natarajan would be fielded from Coimbatore consituency, which he represented in the 15th Lok Sabha, and Tamil writer and Sahitya Akademi Award winner S Venkatesan would contest in the Madurai constituency.
Speaking to reporters, CPI(M) state secretary K Balakrishnan said, “Natarajan has been associated with the party since 1968 and has held various positions. The two candidates would be raising issues of Tamilnadu in Parliament once elected.”
The IUML, which was allotted the Ramanathapuram seat, has announced K Nawaz Kani, managing director of a courier company, as the candidate. Kani said that he would work for the welfare of fishermen in Ramanathapuram and take care of water scarcity and employment issues if voted to power.
Earlier in the day, the opposition DMK named the constituencies in Tamilnadu and Puducherry from where the party and its allies would be contesting. There are 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamilnadu and one in neighbouring Puducherry, voting for all of which will be held in the second phase scheduled on 18 April. The Congress has been allotted the lion’s share of 10 seats (nine in TN and one in Puducherry) among other parties in the alliance.