TVK Passes Resolution Asking Vijay To Contest in Perambur

Chennai: Amid talks of Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) leader and actor Vijay contesting in Virugambakkam, Velachery or Tiruchi East, the party’s election management secretary Aadhav Arjuna on Sunday proposed Vijay as the candidate for Perambur constituency in Chennai.

A resolution to this effect was passed at the TVK activists meeting at Vyasarpadi in the city. Aadhav Arjuna expressed the hope that party general secretary N. Anand would accept the resolution. Party organising committee coordinator and former minister K.A. Sengottaiyan who spoke at the meeting said all the candidates who contested against Vijay in Perambur would lose their deposit amount.

V.S. Babu who was the AIADMK district secretary before he quit the party and joined the TVK asserted that the party would win not only in Perambur but also in Harbour and Thiru. Vi.Ka. Nagar in Chennai. Speaking at the meeting, he said Perambur would be the constituency to elect the next Chief Minister. Perambur TVK secretary Siva who spoke at the meeting said he had added 44,000 members for the party in Perambur.

Recent surveys released by a few agencies have included Virugambakkam, Velachery, Thiru Vi.Ka. Nagar, Royapuram and Perambur as winnable seats for the TVK in Chennai. In the 2021 Assembly elections, DMK nominee R.D. Sekar polled 52 per cent seats while the AIADMK allotted the seat to N.R.Dhanapalan who secured 25.29 per cent votes with BJP support. Makkal Neethi Maiyam (MNM) candidate A. Ponnusamy received 8.58 per cent and now the party is in the DMK front.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the DMK bagged 54.04 per cent votes with the support of MNM. The AIADMK polled only 15.85 per cent votes and the BJP garnered only 13.17 per cent while the NTK received 11.75 per cent. With all other parties barring the DMK polling a low share of votes, the TVK expects to set up a straight contest with the ruling party in Perambur which has several minority votes. Perambur is a DMK bastion as the party or its ally CPI-M has won the seat from 1967 except during the 2016 and 1991, when the AIADMK emerged successful.

Vijay, who is gearing up for a ‘Makkal Sathippu’ meeting in Vellore on Feb. 23 announced party men in charge ofthe Assembly constituency to oversee the election campaign. C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar, the general secretary for the IT and Social Media wing, said the DMK brought the DMDK into the alliance as they feared Vijay, an opinion shared by campaign secretary Nanjil Sampath. Interestingly, the same opinion was given by former AIADMK minister Kadambur C. Raju who said the DMK vehicle had added more luggage in its alliance as it feared Vijay. The vehicle could not move with such added luggage, he commented.