Dissatisfied with the announcement of Dharma Thangavel, a former Congressman, who had joined the AIADMK two months ago, as the party’s nominee for the Alangudi Assembly constituency, a group of AIADMK cadre staged a protest in Alangudi town demanding his replacement.
Mr. Thangavel, who was the Congress south district president of Pudukottai, had joined the AIADMK in January after meeting Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami.
A group of about 600 members of the AIADMK holding party flags and carrying portraits of Mr. Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O. Paneerselvam took out a procession from Sandhaipettai to the bus stand in Alangudi town, raising slogans demanding the replacement of Mr. Thangavel. Only a person who had worked hard for the party in Alangudi should be nominated as the candidate, they demanded.
Mr. Thangavel’s late father, Dharmaraj, was a member of the AIADMK and was the chairman of the Vadakadu cooperative society. His uncle Mr. Pushparaj was an MLA of the Congress twice in Pudukottai district. A postgraduate in Information Technology, the 43-year-old is a native of Vadakadu village in Alangudi taluk in the district. This is the first time that he will be fighting in an Assembly election.
