CHENNAI: DMK on Wednesday announced its candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, scheduled to be held on June 19.
Among the four seats up for grabs, the ruling party has named three candidates of its own while allocating one seat to its ally, the Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), paving the way for actor-politician Kamal Haasan’s entry into Parliament.
In a statement, DMK president and Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin said the seat-sharing arrangement had been made “as agreed earlier” with MNM.
The DMK’s nominees include sitting MP and senior advocate P Wilson, Salem East district secretary and former legislator S R Sivalingam and party spokesperson and noted writer Rokkiah Malik, popularly known as poet Salma.
Wilson, a former Additional Solicitor General, was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2019. Sivalingam previously served as a DMK MLA in 1989 and 1996, while Salma, a longstanding party member, contested the 2006 assembly elections but was unsuccessful.
The party’s candidate list reflects a diverse social composition. While Salma belongs to the Muslim community, Wilson is Christian, and Sivalingam is Hindu, a balance observers say underscores the DMK’s inclusive political messaging.
MNM, meanwhile, formally named Kamal Haasan as its nominee following meetings of the party’s executive and administrative committees on Wednesday.
His nomination comes as part of the DMK-MNM understanding forged during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The upcoming Rajya Sabha election has been necessitated by the end of terms for MPs M Shanmugam, M Mohamed Abdulla and P Wilson from the DMK and Vaiko from the MDMK.
PMK leader and outgoing MP Anbumani Ramadoss’s term is also set to end.
The principal opposition, AIADMK, which is expected to win two seats with its current strength in the assembly, is yet to name its nominees.
Nominations for the Rajya Sabha elections close on 9 June, with scrutiny scheduled for the following day. Voting will take place on 19 June and results will be declared later that evening.