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Sedapatti dropped, Sasikala's kin gets ticket

N Sathiya Moorthy in Madras

Former Union ministers Sedapatti R Muthiah and Kadambur R Janarthanam are out, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham chief J Jayalalitha's confidante Sasikala's kin T T V Dinakaran is in.

Jayalalitha is not contesting. There are no surprises in the list of 23 AIADMK candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, released by Jayalalitha. She has, however, kept the party's prime ministerial options open.

The final draft has been hand-written by Jayalalitha, with the educational qualifications of the candidates - the lowest is the school-leaving certificate. The list has thrown up some interesting electoral possibilities, the shape of which will be known only when the rivals field their candidates.

For starters, Petroleum Minister and Tamizhaga Rajiv Congress leader Vazhappadi K Ramamurthy has a tough fight on hand. Fielded in his traditional Salem constituency is former AIADMK minister T M Selvaganapathy, of the 'cremation shed scam' fame. Selvaganapathy has been taken out of the cold storage, given his image as a tough fighter and a good organiser.

Likewise, former Tamil Nadu assembly speaker P H Pandian (of the 'sky-high powers' fame) has been resurrected, and fielded in the Christian-Nadar-strong Tirunelveli constituency in the south. Former minister Mohammed Asif, a co-accused with Jayalalitha in the Tansi land deal case, has been fielded in Vellore.

AIADMK sources expect dalit-strong Puthiya Thamizhagam leader K Krishnaswamy to contest from Tirunelveli, where Jayalalitha hopes to reap in the party's Thevar community vote bank.

Through the last two months, Asif had been in a hospital. He had to be wheeled in an unconscious state to the court hearing the Tansi case, suffering as he was reportedly from severe heart problems.

Now he seems fit as a fiddle to contest elections in the Muslim-strong constituency, away from his native Madras.

Otherwise, there are no surprises. There is former Supreme Court judge V Ramaswamy from Sivakasi, possibly against Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazagham chief Vaiko, former state home secretary K Malaiswamy from Ramanathapuram, and former MGR Medical University vice-chancellor B P Rajan from Tiruchendur, a Nadar community stronghold.

By fielding Malaiswamy from Ramanathapuram, Jayalalitha has given away Sivaganga seat (won by Tamil Maanila Congress leader and former Union finance minister P Chidambaram in the last elections) to the Congress.

Here, a Jayalalitha acolyte and Chidambaram's traditional rival of the past two elections, V Gowrisankaran, is the likely candidate.

Likewise, by fielding outgoing party member Murugesan from Tenkasi (reserved) constituency, she has made it less painful for the TMC, as the sulking former Union minister M Arunachalam may stay put in the party.

Unlike Ramaswamy, Malaiswamy and Dr Rajan, another new entrant to the party, namely Dr V Maithreyan, has not been accommodated. He had crossed over from the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The prestigious South Madras constituency has been given to the Congress. The other two city seats have also been allotted to the allies, given the strong Dravida Munnetra Kazagham presence in the state capital - whose stronger middle class is moving the BJP way.

The most interesting of them, however, is the nomination of Dinakaran, an engineer by education, from Periyakulam, vacated by none other than Sedapatti Muthiah. The former Union minister and one-time confidant has been dropped for 'invalidating' his vote in the crucial confidence motion moved by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in Parliament.

Others in the list mostly include outgoing members, thus showing that Jayalalitha does not want to risk facing a revolt from the party hierarchy. Included in the list are C Sreenivasan from Dindigul, whom Jayalalitha had promised a ministerial berth at the Centre in a media meet, but could not deliver, and Dr C Saroja, a medical practitioner from Rasipuram (reserved). She is the only woman candidate in the AIADMK list, despite Jayalalitha's promise of 33 per cent reservations in all party nominations. Besides, the AIADMK manifesto promised to fight for such reservations at the national-level.

Former Union minister M Thambidurai has been shifted to Krishnagiri, from Karur, where former state minister K Chinnaswamy is the candidate. But another former minister, V Sathyamurthy, has been dropped. So has been film star-politician Ramarajan.

Jayalalitha is not contesting from the Gobichettipalayam seat, as a prelude to her launching herself on the national scene in a big way. Thus she has kept the party's prime ministerial options open. "Even the Congress has said that only its elected MPs would name their prime minister," Jayalalitha said.

She said she would campaign alongside Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Tamil Nadu, whenever the latter found the time.

The AIADMK manifesto is even more succinct. It referred to all of Jayalalitha's attempts at an alternative dispensation at the Centre after the defeat of the Vajpayee government. The manifesto has not dealt with the future, but only the past. It also blames the BJP's insincerity in the implementation of welfare packages for various sections, including Tamils and minorities.

With the release of her list of candidates - the first major political party in the country to do so, as in the past - Jayalalitha is launching her five-week-long election campaign from Kancheepuram on Sunday. And that should also set the tone of electioneering in the state.

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