Two sitting Members of Parliament from the Rajya Sabha, R Vaithilingam and KP Munusamy, are going to contest in the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, with the latter just one year into his Rajya Sabha term. Based on the second list of candidates released by the AIADMK on Wednesday, the party has fielded KP Munusamy, who is also the Deputy Convenor of the AIADMK from the Veppanapalli constituency, and MP R Vaithilingam from the Orathanadu Assembly constituency.
In its second list, the AIADMK released the names of the candidates for 171 constituencies, most of whom are well-known in the political field. The list includes 22 Tamil Nadu Cabinet Ministers including K Pandiarajan (Avadi), KC Veeramani (Jolarpet), KP Anbalagan (Palacode), Sevoor Ramachandran (Arani), P Thangamani (Kurapalayam) and KA Sengottaiyan (Gobichettipalayam).
AIADMK Deputy Convenor KP Munusamy, who assumed office as a Rajya Sabha MP in April 2020 right after his defeat from the Krishnagiri constituency in the Parliamentary polls of 2019, has been given the Veppanapalli constituency against this backdrop.
However, Munusamy has experienced victory in the constituency in the past, as he served as Minister for Municipal Administration and Rural Development until 2014 after contesting from here.
Meanwhile, R Vaithilingam who was elected unopposed in the Rajya Sabha on June 3, 2016, was given the Orathanad seat for the upcoming Assembly elections, taking many by surprise. However, Vaithilingam’s tenure in the Rajya Sabha is likely to end by next year.
Vaithilingam, who served as the state Minister for Housing and Urban Development from 2011 to 2016, has contested and won from the Orthanadu constituency in 2001, 2006 and 2011. However, he lost to DMK’s M Ramachandran in the 2016 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, following which he was given a seat in the Rajya Sabha.