GK Vasan Secures Five Seats, to Contest Under BJP Symbol

Chennai: The AIADMK has announced the allocation of five seats to G K Vasan’s Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) for the upcoming Tamil Nadu elections. Additionally, one seat each has been allotted to K C Thirumaran’s South India Forward Bloc and John Pandian’s Tamizhaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam.

Vasan confirmed that his party will contest from Oddanchaithram, Ranipet, Kiliyur, Erode West, and Kumbakonam, with all candidates using the BJP’s ‘Lotus’ symbol. “We faced challenges in obtaining the Cycle symbol, so we opted for a popular symbol aligned with our NDA partnership. Contesting under the Lotus seemed the best choice,” he told reporters. Similarly, Thirumaran’s party will also contest its allocated seat on the BJP symbol.

The announcement came after an hour-long discussion between BJP Tamil Nadu in-charge Piyush Goyal and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami at the latter’s residence. While AIADMK finalized seat-sharing with BJP, PMK, and AMMK earlier, the TMC was initially left out due to disagreements over seat numbers.

With this latest allocation, the Lotus symbol now represents 33 candidates in Tamil Nadu, making it the third-largest symbol in the state after DMK’s Rising Sun and AIADMK’s Two Leaves. Of these, 27 candidates officially belong to the BJP. The party has emerged as the second-largest constituent in the AIADMK-led front, followed by PMK led by Anbumani Ramadoss and T T V Dhinakaran’s AMMK.

Discussions are still underway with other regional parties, including Puratchi Bharatham, Tamil Nadu Bahujan Samaj Katchi, Puthiya Needhi Katchi, and Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi. A source revealed that A C Shanmugam of Puthiya Needhi Katchi may field two candidates on the BJP symbol, which could further increase the number of BJP-backed seats.

Earlier, Palaniswami said that the full candidate list would be released within two days. He is scheduled to launch his election campaign in the Mylapore constituency on Wednesday, building momentum from the seat-sharing announcement and the party manifesto released earlier this week.