The AIADMK moved swiftly to firm up its electoral position on Friday, March 27, releasing a second list of 127 candidates for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections scheduled for April 23 just weeks after unveiling a first list of 23 names. Together, the two lists account for 150 of the party’s confirmed candidates, with the AIADMK set to contest a total of 169 seats in the state as the lead party of the NDA alliance.
The second list covers a broad geographic sweep of Tamil Nadu from Kanniyakumari in the southern tip to Gummidipoondi and Ponneri in the north, and across the Cauvery delta, western districts, and the central belt. Among the notable names in the second list is V. Sathan in Gummidipoondi, a former Minister for Milk and Dairy Development. The list also confirms candidates for key constituencies including Neyveli, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Sivaganga, Madurai North and East, Tirunelveli, Palayamkottai, Tiruchirappalli East and West, Hosur, Coimbatore South, Singanallur, Tiruppur North, and dozens more.
The overall NDA seat distribution in Tamil Nadu allocates 169 constituencies to the AIADMK, 27 to the BJP, 18 to the PMK, and 11 to the AMMK — for a combined 225 seats. The remaining nine are being contested by smaller NDA constituents under various alliance agreements.
The release of the list came alongside a notable development regarding alliance symbol allocation. Indiya Jananayaka Katchi (IJK), an NDA constituent led by Ravi Pachamuthu son of party founder T.R. Paarivendhar announced that its candidates would use the AIADMK’s ‘Two Leaves’ election symbol. IJK’s Venkatesan has been fielded from Pallavaram, while Saranya Anbazhagan will contest from the Kunnam seat. Another NDA partner, A.C. Shanmugam’s Puthiya Needhi Katchi, announced it would use the BJP’s ‘Lotus’ symbol in one seat and the ‘Two Leaves’ in another. The symbol question had been a sensitive one within the NDA, Tamil media had previously reported that the AIADMK was unhappy with smaller allies choosing to campaign under the BJP’s symbol rather than its own, and this had contributed to the delays in finalising seat-sharing arrangements earlier in the month.
On the other side of the electoral divide, the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance has already confirmed seat-sharing arrangements with Congress (28 seats), CPI (5), VCK (8), MDMK (4), DMDK (10). The SPA is yet to release its own formal candidate list.
With Tamil Nadu voting on April 23 and counting on May 4, the campaign is entering its most intensive phase. Both major alliances are now publishing their candidate rosters, and voters across the state’s 234 constituencies will soon know exactly who is asking for their mandate.
-Samuthiran
