Tamil Nadu chief minister E Palaniswami, DMK president M K Stalin and noted film-personality Kamal Haasan, on Monday (March 15) filed their nomination papers for the coming Assembly election in the state scheduled on April 6. The election for 234-member House will take place just in one phase.
While AIADMK leader Palaniswami filed his paper from Edapaddi Assembly seat in Salem district after 1:00 PM, Stalin filed his papers from Kolathur constituency in Chennai.
The founder of the newly floated Makkal Needhi Maiam, Kamal Haasan filed his papers from Coimbatore South constituency. Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam chief T T V Dhinakaran too filed nomination papers from Kovilpatti. It needs to be mentioned that he had in 2017 won the by-election from R K Nagar Assembly constituency by a huge margin after the seat got vacated following the death of Jayalalithaa. Dhinakaran is the nephew of V K Sasikala and is somewhat upset over the latter’s decision to step aside from politics during the ongoing Assembly election. Her decision marred Dhinakaran’s bargaining position and poll-prospect.
Political analysts are of the view that Sasikala who is not in the best of health and has several cases pending against her, succumbed under the pressure of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The BJP, which is contesting the election in alliance with the AIADMK has fielded actress Khushboo Sundar, who had crossed over from the Congress last year. She filed her nomination from Thousand Lights in Chennai. The saffron party has been left with 20 seats in Tamil Nadu.
