An officer and a lady in battle for the ballot

Chennai, Apr 23 (UNI) Adding to an array of candidates including actors, writers and a sportsman, in the fray for the May eight elections to the Tamil Nadu Assembly is former women IAS officer-turned-politician V S Chandralekha.

The distinguished bureaucrat, who had survived an acid attack in 1992 for opposing the AIADMK government's move to disnvest the State-owned TIDCO's share in favour of the SPIC under the zero conversion bonds scheme', has thrown her hat in the ring for the first time to enter the State Assembly.

Her previous foray into electoral politics was in 1996 when she aspired to become to Mayor of Chennai, taking on DMK's M K Stalin.

But it turned out to be a fiasco.

Pitted against two film stars, S Ve Sekhar and Napolean, belonging to the AIADMK and DMK respectively, the Janata Party Tamil Nadu unit President exuded confidence about winning from Mylapore Assembly constituency.

Elaborting on her decision to ally with BJP instead of the DMK or AIADMK which had been ruling the State for nearly four decades, Ms Chanralekha said, ''It's a welcome move on the part of a National party like BJP to ally with us. Tamil Nadu was veered away from national mainstream because some National parties in the anxiety to get some seats, always sacrificed the State's interests, by aligning with these two parties, allowing sectarian type of politics to take roots in Tamil Nadu.'' Being pitted against film stars like Napolean and S Ve Sekar in Mylapore, does not deter the former bureaucrat who sees a bright chance of winning the elections as her oppoments are full time artistes and would give priority only to their profession.

MORE UNI GV VV SB RK1231