Jayalalithaa releases AIADMK candidates list on her birthday

Updated: Tuesday, February 25, 2014, 10:49 [IST]

Chennai, Feb 24: On the occasion of her 66th birthday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa on Monday released a list of all 40 candidates for the upcoming 16th Lok Sabha elections.

Jayalalithaa set the stage for the upcoming battle of power at the party headquarters at Roayapettah, by announcing names for all 40 constituencies ( 39 seats in Tamil Nadu and one in Puducherry), where thousands of AIADMK members wished her on birthday.

For the people of Tamil Nadu, Jayalaithaa conveyed her birthday message as, "Cooperate with us to ensure peace, prosperity and progress."

However, some names may be withdrawn from the present list, after holding talks regarding "seat-sharing" with the CPI and CPI(M), with whom her party has forged a pre-poll alliance.

Addressing a press conference, Jayalalithaa said the party would withdraw candidates from seats allocated to allies.

"The alliance talks with CPI and CPI-M were still on and no conclusion has been reached so far. Therefore, AIADMK will withdraw its candidates in constituencies that will go for allies", she said.

"I appeal to people of Tamil Nadu to cooperate with us for peace, progress and prosperity not only for Tamil Nadu, but also for the entire India", she said.

Another point to be noted is that Jayalalithaa is known to replace candidates, just before filing the nominations, that can lead to "heartburn" among candidates.

In the recently concluded Rajya Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa had replaced, N Chinnadurai, two days after his nomination was announced.

'Peace, Prosperity, Progress' is AIADMK's slogan for LS polls.

She also declared that she will tour Tamil Nadu to start election campaigns from 3 March in Kanchipuram to 5 April.

Jayalalithaa also expressed hope that the trio alliance of AIADMK, CPI and CPI(M) would be enough to retain power in the general elections.

With 'Peace, Prosperity, Progress' as her party's slogan for the Lok Sabha elections, Jayalalithaa said that the party's manifesto is being prepared and it will be released soon.

In 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the AIADMK had won 9 of the 39 seats.

Here is the full list of all 40 candidates of AIADMK:

Constituency Candidates

Tiruvallur (SC): P Venugopal

Chennai North TG Venkatesh Babu

Chennai South : Dr J Jayavardhan

Chennai Central : SR Vijayakumar

Sriperumpudur : KN Ramachandran

Kanchipuram (SC): Maragatham Kumaravel

Arkonam : G Hari

Vellore : P Senguttuvan

Krishnagiri : K Ashok Kumar