Madhusudhanan's entry ensures heady contest in RK Nagar

Making things more tough for TTV Dinakaran and others, the AIADMK faction led by former Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam on Thursday announced that senior party leader E Madhusudhanan will be its candidate in R K Nagar constituency in Chennai where a byelection will be held on April 12.

The Governing Council of the rebel AIADMK met and nominated senior most leader and AIADMK Presidium Chairman (since expelled along with OPS by Sasikala for turning rebel) as its candidate for the bypoll, which was necessitated following the death of former CM J Jayalalithaa, who had twice held the seat in 2015 and 2016.

The announcement of unanimous election of Madhusudhanan, who was expected to give a tough fight to Dinakaran, byPanneerselvam to the media was greeted with loud cheers
from their supporters.

A staunch loyalist of Jayalalithaa and MGR, party stalwart Madhusudhanan was earlier elected from R K Nagar in the 1991 Assembly elections and had served as the Handloom
Minister in her first Cabinet.

This decision comes a day after the AIADMK’s V K Sasikala camp and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) announced their candidates for the upcoming by-election, which is seen as a real test for both the camps of the AIADMK and the DMK, which would be working its strategies to gain from the instability within the ruling party.

"The parliamentary board of the party met at 4.15pm. With the blessings of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa, we have decided to field Madhusudhanan as the candidate from R K Nagar," said Panneerselvam.