Tamil Nadu polls: PMK changes candidate for Uloontherpet

Chennai: A day after DMDK chief Vijayakanth announced his candidature from Uloontherpet constituency for the May 16 Assembly polls, PMK on Tuesday changed its nominee for the seat, fielding party spokesperson K Balu. Party President GK Mani announced the candidature of Balu, an advocate and a regular on TV channel debates, in a statement. [caption id=“attachment_2665170” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] DMDK chief Vijayakanth. PTI[/caption] Earlier, R Ramamurthy had been fielded as PMK’s nominee, Mani recalled, adding Balu’s candidature has been approved by PMK founder S Ramadoss and his son and the party’s Chief Ministerial candidate Anbumani. The constituency is all set to witness a four-cornered showdown between the three Dravidian parties– AIADMK, DMK, DMDK, and PMK. Originally allotted to DMK ally MMK, the Muslim party later opted out of contesting from this Assembly segment in Villupuram district, prompting DMK to announce its candidate. AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa has fielded her party’s sitting MLA R Kumaraguru.

Vijayakant had announced on Monday that he will be seeking his fortune from Ulunthoorpet, jumping constituencies for a second time. He had made his electoral debut from Vriddhachalam in 2006, but had shifted to Rishivandiyam in 2011 from where he won.