Triangular Contest Expected in Chennai South Constituency as Senior Leaders’ Relatives of Different Parties Face Off

Chennai South set for three-cornered contest in Lok Sabha polls

Chennai, March 24: The upcoming general elections in the Chennai South Lok Sabha constituency will see a tough three-cornered contest among close relatives of senior leaders from different parties. Tamilisai Soundararajan, who has recently resigned as Telangana Governor and L-G of Puducherry, will be contesting from Chennai South on a BJP ticket. Soundararajan, former president of the Tamil Nadu unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is the daughter of Kumari Ananthan, former Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president and ex-MP.

On the other hand, the INDIA bloc has fielded the sitting MP from Chennai South, Thamizhachi Thangapandian, a DMK member and sister of Tamil Nadu Finance Minister, Thangam Thenarasu. The AIADMK has named J. Jayavardhan as its nominee from the Chennai South LS seat, making the competition a triangular one. Jayavardhan is the son of senior AIADMK leader, D. Jayakumar, who is a party spokesperson and former Fisheries Minister of Tamil Nadu.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, DMK’s Thamizhachi Thangapandian emerged victorious against Jayavardhan with a significant margin of 2,62,223 votes. It is noteworthy that in the last general election, the AIADMK was in an alliance with the BJP.

Tamilisai Soundararajan expressed her confidence in the BJP’s victory, stating, “We are confident of victory and the people of Tamil Nadu are eager to vote for the good governance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.” She also highlighted the goodwill PM Modi and the BJP have in Tamil Nadu, believing it will garner votes for the party.

Political analyst Zacharias Joseph, based in Coimbatore, mentioned that Chennai South is a stronghold of the DMK, giving Thamizhachi Thangapandian an advantage. However, he acknowledged the growing support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the state.