Tamil Nadu polls: Sivaganga MLAs take divine route to confirm seats

SIVAGANGA: At a time when the political parties are busy forging alliances and selecting candidates, two MLAs from the district reportedly sought the almighty's blessings to bag the seats.

To fulfil this divine goal, DMK MLA Periyakaruppan and AIADMK Manamadurai MLA S Nagarajan offered prayers and organised feasts at Karuppar Malaiyan Swami Temple in Piranmalai of Sivaganga-Pudukottai border and Madapuram Badrakaliamman Temple near Thirupuvanam, respectively.

Around 25 people from the district, including the Thirupattur MLA Periyakaruppan, took part in the interview organised at the DMK headquarters for the selection of candidates on Tuesday. Periyakaruppan, who is also the district secretary of the party, won the Assembly election in 2006, 2011, and 2016 consecutively.

To ensure that his lady luck stays by his side, he organised the feast. However, his close associates said that no such feast was organised.

On the other hand, AIADMK Manamadurai MLA S Nagarajan, who was elected in the by-election in 2019, offered the feast at the Madapuram Badrakaliamman Temple when talks were on that the BJP was eyeing the constituency.

The constituency has been the ruling party's turf for the past three terms, added sources. However, his close associates claimed that the feast was organised as part of the late AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa's birth anniversary celebrations.

Though Periyakaruppan is having higher chances of becoming the face of DMK for Thirupattur constituency, Nagarajan's selection is doubtful as his constituency has not been named in the proposed list of the AIADMK, added sources.

Only the Naam Tamilar Katchi finalised its candidates-- Maliga Rameshu for Sivaganga constituency, Rama Kottaikumar for Thirupattur, Shanmuga Priya for Manamadurai, and Durai Manickam for Karaikudi. They have already launched their campaign.