Summary:
AIADMK was keen on retaining south Chennai for sitting MP, J Jayavardhan, son of fisheries minister D Jayakumar.Former TN BJP chief Radhakrishnan will face CPM’s P R Natarajan in Coimbatore. This is the fifth time that Radhakrishnan has been fielded in Coimbatore, a BJP stronghold. While the party made a quick decision on candidates for four constituencies, Ramanathapuram delayed matters considering the keen contest for the seat among some senior leaders. While he won two consecutive Lok Sabha elections in 1998 and 1999, he was defeated in the 2004 and 2014 polls.Nainar Nagendran has been pitted against DMK’s IUML candidate K Nawaz Kani. In 2014, he came third with 1.33 lakh votes, while in 1999, he came second.It will be a keenly fought battle between Tamilisai and DMK’s state women wing secretary and Rajya Sabha MP K Kanimozhi in Tuticorin.Though Tamilisai initially preferred to contest from Chennai South, which has a sizeable votebank for the party, she finally settled for Tuticorin..