Tamil Nadu: DMK allots one Rajya Sabha seat for Congress

The DMK has allotted one Rajya sabha seat for the Congress while it would contest three with rival AIADMK retaining two seats. In all, the election would be held for six Rajya seats from Tamil Nadu on June 10.
The ruling party has not fielded sitting Rajya Sabha MPs T K S Elangovan and R S Bharathi again, according to the candidates list released by chief minister M K Stalin on Sunday. But the party has chosen to re-nominate sitting MP Namakkal district secretary K R N Rajesh Kumar and field Thanjavur north district secretary Thanjai S Kalyanasundaram and legal wing secretary R Girirajan for the remaining two seats.
Thanjai S Kalyanasundaram is a party veteran who started his journey in the Dravidian movement as a teenager participating in anti-Hindi agitations. He has held multiple posts and was also district secretary of composite Thanjavur district. Girirajan too is a party senior, who contested in the 2014 Lok sabha elections in Chennai North but lost.
"The party wanted to honour veterans and hence nominated Kalyanasundaram and Girirajan. Rajesh Kumar has been re-nominated since his current stint as MP is only eight months long and the party feels he has to be given a longer term," said DMK spokesperson Constantine Ravindran. Rajesh Kumar was elected to the post in a by-poll to a Rajya Sabha seat that fell vacant last year and hence his term too ends in June.
The tenure of six sitting MPs would end on June 29 - three from AIADMK and three from DMK, including Elangovan and Bharathi.
Ravindran said there was no specific reason for leaving out Elangovan and Bharathi this time. "The party leadership might give an appropriate responsibility to them," he said.
As it requires the support of 34 MLAs to become a Rajya Sabha MP, DMK with 159 MLAs would be able to win four seats while the AIADMK with 75 MLAs, including those of allies, would be able to win only two MP posts, which is one less than its current strength.
Hectic lobbying is underway in AIADMK and the Congress for the seats. While former Union minister P Chidambaram is touted to be a front runner for Congress, multiple names, including that of D Jayakumar, are speculated to get the seat in the AIADMK.
The two parties are expected to announce their candidates in the next few days.