AIADMK Announces CVe Shanmugam, Dharmar As Rajya Sabha Candidates

AIADMK RS Poll Candidates: While Shanmugam is said to be the choice of Opposition leader Edappadi Palaniswami, Dharmar is the choice of AIADMK Coordinator O Panneerselvam.

Former AIADMK Minister C Ve Shanmugam ( Image Source :ABP Nadu )

Chennai: The AIADMK, the principal Opposition party of Tamil Nadu, announced two of its senior members as the Rajya Sabha candidates of the party. The AIADMK leaders nominated CVe Shanmugam and R Dharmar to Rajya Sabha.

According to a report on PTI, former state Law Minister C Ve Shanmugam, who is the party's Villupuram district secretary and R Dharmar, former district secretary of Ramanathapuram and Mudukalathur panchayat union chairperson, have been named as the official candidates by AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam and co-coordinator K Palaniswami on Wednesday night.

The announcement followed an hour-long discussion held at the party headquarters in Chennai along with deputy coordinators K P Munusamy and R Vaithilingam on Wednesday.

The elections for the Rajya Sabha seats will be held on June 10.

CVe Shanmugam was first elected as an MLA from Dindivanam constituency in 2001. He was then elected to the Assembly three more times From Dindivanam and Villupuram constituencies. He only lost the elections in 2021 by a margin of 14,868 votes.

CVe Shanmugam also served as the Minister for Education, Law and Commercial Taxes from 2003 to 2006 and 2011 to 2013 under the leadership of late CM Jayalalithaa. 

In 2016, he was appointed as Minister for Law and Prisons by EPS. 

Meanwhile, Dharmar has been serving AIADMK for a couple of decades. Dharmar is currently Mudukalathur panchayat union chairperson.

While Shanmugam is the choice of EPS, Dharmar is said to be the choice of OPS, said a report on Times of India.

(With PTI inputs)