Tamil Nadu bypolls: Jayalalithaa to contest from RK Nagar constituency

Chennai: AIADMK supremo and Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has been announced as party candidate for the June 27 by-election to Radhakrishnan Nagar Assembly Constituency, a seat vacated by her party MLA P Vetrivel. A decision to this effect was taken at the AIADMK Parliamentary Board meeting here, Jayalalithaa said in a party statement. [caption id=“attachment_2269740” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. PTI[/caption] She had been tipped to contest from the constituency following Vetrivel’s resignation. Jayalalithaa had earlier represented her native Srirangam constituency prior to her conviction in the disproportionate assets case by a Bengaluru special court on 27 September  last. As a result, she had to resign her assembly membership. She was subsequently acquitted by the Karnataka High Court on 11 May, allowing her to return as Chief Minister of the state for the fifth time. Jayalalithaa assumed the office of chief minister again on 23 May and would have to be elected as MLA within six months. DMK and PMK have already announced their decision to boycott the bypoll, which comes about a year ahead of the scheduled elections to the state Assembly. In the present Assembly, AIADMK enjoys a strong majority of 150 members in the 234-member house. PTI