Vaiko to fight state polls after 20 years

MDMK leader Vaiko is set to contest the May 16 Assembly polls — after 20 years — and will try his luck from Kovilpatti constituency.

The much-awaited morale booster for MDMK cadres came from the party leader during an election rally here on Saturday. “We are happy that our leader is again in the fray and he will win by at least 40,000 votes as the constituency is traditionally a strong bastion of communist parties and has a large number of MDMK voters,” said MDMK functionary Poonga Nagar Ramadoss.

It may be noted that in 1996 Vaiko contested from Vilathikulam constituency and lost by a very narrow margin — 634 votes — to the DMK. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, he lost in Virudhunagar.

Meanwhile, the MDMK has announced candidates for 29 seats. A press release said of the 29 seats allotted in the DMDK-PWA combine, the MDMK has named candidates for 27 and that two seats would be for its allies, fringe Tamil nationalist outfits.