VCK chief to contest from Chidambaram

Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), which is part of the DMK-led alliance and has been allotted two seats in Tamil Nadu, Sunday said its chief Thol Thirumavalavan would contest the Chidambaram seat, and named 10 others for Andhra Pradesh and Kerala contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Another seat - Villupuram - in the state allotted to it by the DMK-led 'Secular Progressive Alliance' would be contested by the party general secretary and writer T Ravikumar, a former MLA.

Addressing reporters here, Thirumavalavan said he would be contesting on an independent symbol, whereas Villupuram seat would be contested on the DMK's rising sun symbol.

"This is an amicable decision taken with an aim to win both the constituencies," he said.

Thirumavalavan was elected to parliament for the first time in 2009 from Chidambaram constituency, however, he lost to an AIADMK candidate when contested from the same seat in 2014 general elections.

VCK would be contesting six lok sabha constituencies in Andhra Pradesh and three in Kerala independently.

In Andhra Pradesh, N K Jacob Vidyasagar will be contesting from Guntur, PTM Sivaprasad - Chittoor, George Bankari - Visakhapatnam, Dr Murugesan Prabhu - Tirupati, Bondalapalli Chandrasekar - Rajampet, and Ramaji Immanuel from Kadapa.

In Kerala, M Selvaraj from Idukki, Jeevan K Vijayan from Kottayam and lawyer K R Meena would be contesting from Kollam.

Alleging that the Election Commission was delaying the allotment of an independent symbol for a month without citing any reason, Thirumavalavan said the symbols sought by the party was allotted to others.

"Earlier we asked for a ring, then a diamond, then a jackfruit, but all of them were allotted to the others. Now they have asked another list of symbols. Time to begin campaigns is nearing," he said.

The DMK-led 'Secular Progressive Alliance' allies, CPI(M), CPI and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) had Friday named their candidates for five Lok Sabha constituencies allotted to them as part of seat-sharing arrangement.

The DMK would be contesting 20 seats