DMK announced the names of candidates for 164 seats, Panneerselvam also got the ticket.

The ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu on Saturday announced the names of its candidates for 164 seats for the assembly elections to be held on April 23. The party appealed to Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and his son and Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi have been re-nominated from their existing seats. Most of the ministers, MLAs and senior leaders have been given tickets.

CM Stalin will contest elections from Kolathur

Announcing the ticket, DMK president Stalin said he would contest from Kolathur once again. Udhayanidhi is also contesting re-election from Chepauk-Triplicane of the same city. The candidatures of ministers Durai Murugan (DMK general secretary), K N Nehru Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, Thangam Thenarasu, MA Subramaniam and EV Velu have been retained.

Panneerselvam made candidate from Bodinayakkanur seat

Expelled AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam, who recently joined the DMK, has been made the candidate from the Bodinayakkanur seat, which he represented in the outgoing Assembly. He resigned as MLA after joining DMK. Panneerselvam’s two associates, Paul Manoj Pandian and R Vaithilingam, have also been given tickets. Former minister V Senthil Balaji has been made the candidate from Coimbatore South.

Seat sharing process with allies completed

Earlier in the day, the DMK completed the seat sharing process with its allies for the assembly elections, identifying constituencies to be contested by the Congress, Left parties, VCK and DMDK and other parties.

Know who got how many seats?

Premalatha Vijayakanth-led DMDK has already been allotted 10 seats and they include Virudhachalam and Pallavaram. Thol Thirumavalavan led VCK has won 8 seats, including Kattumannarkoil, Panrutty and Tindivanam.

CPI(M) has been allotted Padmanabhapuram and Palani seats, while CPI will contest from other seats including Thalli and Bhavanisagar (reserved). Both the left parties have been given 5 seats each. The DMK has also earmarked seats for other allies, including the Vaiko-led MDMK, which will contest from four seats. DMK will contest elections on 164 seats.