Edappadi K Palaniswami, MK Stalin to begin Vellore Lok Sabha poll campaign

CHENNAI: A high-voltage campaign for the August 5 Lok Sabha election from Vellore constituency in north Tamil Nadu is all set to begin with the AIADMK leader and Chief Minister, Mr. Edappadi K Palaniswami scheduled to launch his whirlwind campaign from July 27 (Saturday).

Mr. Palaniswami starts off with a election meeting at Vaniyambadi on Saturday, following by a rally at Ambur that day. He will be campaigning for the New Justice Party (NJP) candidate A C Shanmugam, an AIADMK-led NDA ally in the State, who is contesting on the AIADMK’s ‘Two leaves’ symbol.

Mr. Palaniswami in all will be campaigning for three days in Vellore constituency including on July 28 and August 2, according to an AIADMK party release here.
The DMK president M K Stalin will be campaigning for his party candidate, Mr Kathir Anand, who is being supported by the Congress, Left parties and IUML, besides the MDMK. Mr. Stalin will be campaigning for three days from July 27 with an election meeting at K.V. Kuppam Assembly segment in Vellore constituency. He is likely to resume campaigning after a break from August 1.

Mr. Stalin’s son and DMK youth wing secretary, Udayanidhi Stalin, will also be campaigning throughout the constituency for another three days from July 29.

The election to the Vellore LS seat which was to go to the polls along with the Lok Sabha elections in April last, was cancelled by the Election Commission after huge amount of cash was seized from a DMK functionary’s house, leading to IT probe.

Meanwhile, a rebel Congress candidate, Wallajah Hussain, a former MLA who filed his nomination papers for the Vellore LS seat as an Independent candidate, was later persuaded by the TNCC president K S Azhagiri to withdraw his papers.

Interestingly, T T V Dhinakaran-led AMMK and actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan’s MNM have both decided not to contest the Vellore LS polls, making it a a straight fight between DMK and AIADMK-backed A.C.Shanmugam.