Thoothukudi: As her tenure in the Rajya Sabha comes to an end by July this year, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi is most likely to contest in Thoothukudi Lok Sabha constituency, as the Thoothukudi district unit of the DMK is said to have unanimously expressed support to the party high command, towards the move.
Having been elected twice to Rajya Sabha in 2007 and 2013, Kanimozhi, according to sources from Thoothukudi party unit, is willing to enter parliament for the third time by directly getting people's mandate by contesting in Thoothukudi, though it would be much easier for her to get re-elected to the Rajya Sabha again as the DMK has more than adequate members in the Tamil Nadu assembly.
Though party president M K Stalin, can announce anything officially only after conclusion of formalities like finalising allies and seat-sharing issues, local leaders have already started campaigning for Kanimozhi.
Former state minister and Thoothukudi north district secretary of DMK, Geetha Jeevan's speech among the villagers of Kulasekarapuram, Lingapuram, Manthithoppu and Iluppaiyoorani during the party organised grama sabha meet recently, has further heightened the expectation of DMK men over Kanimozhi's candidature in Thoothukudi Lok Sabha constituency.
Geetha Jeevan said, "if you vote for Kanimozhi, who is an experienced parliamentarian, able to rake up your problems in parliament effectively, all your legitimate demands will be fulfilled."
Former state minister Geetha Jeevan also added that in case of the formation of a Congress-led government at the Centre, Kanimozhi too would become a union cabinet minister which would be advantageous for Thoothukudi district.
It may be recalled that Udhayanidhi Stalin, participating in a similar grama sabha meet at Mudivaithanendhal village in Thoothukudi district last week, also had made a veiled reference to Kanimozhi contesting in Thoothukudi by telling the people, "You may have known by now who would be the DMK candidate for Thoothukudi in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections."
"We understand this word of Udayanidhi Stalin is nothing but a signal from our party president himself," said a local DMK leader. This is not a recent development in the run up to the parliamentary elections, but Kanimozhi had set her eyes on Thoothukudi even much earlier.
"She had well demonstrated her desire to contest in Thoothukudi Lok Sabha constituency by adopting Srivenkatesapuram panchayat in the district four year ago in November 2014," said a local DMK leader, who also added she was the first parliamentarian in the state to adopt a village under the Sansad Gram Adarsh Yojana and spent around Rs two crore for the development of the panchayat from her MPLAD fund.
