After initial complaints about the state Government not being consulted before announcing the by-poll schedule for Thirumangalam Assembly constituency, the DMK has come first off the block, deciding its candidate and setting up a campaign committee headed by Chief Minister M Karunanidhi’s son and regional satrap of Madurai, M K Azhagiri.

Addressing the media after the meeting of the DMK High Level Committee here on Tuesday, party president Karunanidhi announced that local councillor Latha Athiyaman, wife of a former MLA, would be the UPA candidate for Thirumangalam by-poll, scheduled to take place on January 9.

Though the election or its result will not have any direct bearing on state politics, it will be a tough fight for setting the pace ahead of the coming general elections in April. On the one side, the DMK would be keen to ward off anti-incumbency and related problems like power shortage, price hike and corruption, while on the other, the Opposition alliance is facing the first test after the coming together of the AIADMK-MDMK combine with the Left parties.

When asked about his stated displeasure over not being consulted before fixing the election schedule, the Chief Minister said that the Government had been involved in relief and rehabilitation activities after the recent floods in the state. “The officials did not ask us about our preparedness to conduct an election. The State Government was not given an opportunity to register its opinion,” he said. Latha is a local councillor whose husband A Athiyaman had contested unsuccessfully from the same constituency in 1984, before getting elected five years later from the nearby Sedapatti.