Coimbatore: DMK will be locking horns directly with AIADMK in seven out of the 10 assembly constituencies in Coimbatore in the upcoming elections.
The party has ceded three of the constituencies, including Thondamuthur, where AIADMK rural administration minister S P Velumani is contesting, to alliance parties. Like its principal rival AIADMK, the DMK has also chosen to field several new faces in the assembly elections.
But what is starker than the number of new faces is the absence of DMK's most popular face in Coimbatore Pongalur N Palanisamy. He has been contesting every assembly elections for the past 25 years. The veteran said it was his choice not to contest this assembly election. However it was widely expected that his son Pynthamil Paari or someone else from the family will be given a ticket to contest.
But Paari has also been left out. Palanisamy backing off from the contest and his son failing to make it into the list is attributed by party insiders to the ongoing power struggle in Coimbatore DMK and restructuring of the party unit.
The DMK candidates' list, released by the party on Wednesday, has also raised many eyebrows because of the absence of names of other expectants like Coimbatore north district secretary N Veeragopal.
The surprise inclusion was that of Meena Logu, a sitting councillor in the Coimbatore corporation. Meena Logu said it was the reward for her effective functioning as the councillor. Most of the candidates, however, belong to the gounder community, who form major chunk of the voters in the region.
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