R K Nagar byelection: Karunanidhi urged to field DMK candidate against Jayalalithaa

CHENNAI: Suspended DMK leader P V Kalyanasundaram on Tuesday urged party chief M Karunanidhi to field a candidate against Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa in the R K Nagar assembly constituency where a byelection will be held on June 27.
In a letter, Kalyanasundaram urged the party chief to reconsider the decision not to field its candidate in the constituency.
He said it was the duty of the DMK to field a candidate against Jayalalithaa.It was also the duty of the party to expose the misrule of the AIADMK government, the former organizing secretary of the party said.
Kalyanasundaram recalled the 1991 elections in which the DMK had contested with courage despite knowing the fact that voter sentiment was against the party since the polls were held in the aftermath of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. "We contested the election with courage even though we were sure of defeat. I request you to reconsider the decision [not to field a candidate in the constituency]," he said.
The DMK suspended Kalyanasundaram on August 7 last year for “anti-party activities,” a week after he tendered his resignation from all party posts. He had resigned from all party posts demanding that party chief M Karunanidhi’s son M K Stalin be made party’s chief ministerial candidate. He had also demanded that tainted leaders like Kanimozhi, A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran be removed from the party.
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