Final decision on Andipatti candidate by Wednesday: Kartik

Chennai, Apr 10 (UNI) The suspense over popular actor and All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) state unit general secretary Kartik taking on AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa in the prestigious Andipatti constituency continued today, with the actor saying a final decision would be taken by Wednesday.

Talking to reporters after releasing the party's manifesto here, he said the party would definitely field a candidate in Andipatti, from where the Chief Minister was seeking re-election to the State Assembly.

Kartik said the candidate's name would be announced by April 12, when he will launch the election campaign from Pasumpon in Sivaganga district after paying homage at the samadhi of Muthuramalinga Thevar.

He said his name was fourth in the list of contestants. ''There are three other names ahead of my name in the list. After analysing the strength and weaknesses of the candidates, a proper candidate will be fielded,'' he added.

Refusing to reveal the name of three candidates who had sought ticket from Andipatti, the actor said ''It is a powerful constituency and an important constituency.'' ''We have to take a careful decision,''he added.

Replying to a pointed question whether he was still in the race to contest from Andipatti, Kartik said all aspects would be taken into consideration before finalising the candidate.

''The Central leadership has given me the choice to contest from that seat. You (the media) will get to know the moment it is finalised....in all probabilty by Wednesday,''he added.

Asked whether he received any threat from any quarter, Kartik denied it and said the issue was blown out of proportion. ''Lot of things are blown out of proportion. There will be pulls and pressures. We have to overcome it. But I could not be pressurised or pushed to a corner or abused,'' he added. The party would make optimum use of the latest technology during campaigning to overcome the time factor. We are aware that lot of political parties have gone ahead of us (in respect of campaigning),'' he added.

The manifesto promised to find a permanent solution to free the people from oppression and depression and would propagate the ideals of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose and Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar.

The party would strive for pro-people economic reforms, address the problems faced by agriculturists, stress on rural development, protect labour rights, ensure social security for unorganised workers, better health facilities, education for all, free and compulsory education for children of peasants, labourers, fishermen and working class, preventing commercialisation of education, campaign for mass literacy were among the highlights of the manifesto.

UNI