Chennai: With uncertainty prevailing over MDMK general secretary Vaiko being able to contest the Rajya Sabha polls from Tamilnadu following his conviction in a sedition case, the DMK has decided to field its candidate.
According to latest reports, N R Ilango has been picked by the party to be the standby candidate in case Vaiko’s papers are rejected tomorrow during scrutiny.
Though Vaiko has been convicted and sentenced to only one year in prison, legal experts do not rule out the fact that sedition is a very serious offence.
The sentence by a special court for MLAs and MPs has suspended the sentence for a month to allow him to go on appeal in the higher court.
Since the DMK would be able to send three MPs to the Rajya Sabha given that there are 100 MLAs in the Tamilnadu Assembly, the party has decided to field Ilango as its candidate should Vaiko’s papers be rejected by the returning officer.
Ilango will be filing his nomination papers today, it is reported.