Congress and DMK swapped a seat with each other, while J Gurunathan, an NSA detainee till recently for his acerbic speech against union minister A Raja, has found a place in PMK’s first list released on a hectic Sunday, as the UPA allies went one step closer to winding up the pre-campaign processes in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Official declaration of candidates is expected in the coming days.

After moving fast ahead with its partnership with PMK, there has been a hitch in the Opposition front, as AIADMK's talks with MDMK and CPM remained inconclusive till late on Sunday. CPI has been allotted three, one more than what it won last time.

Congress handed over the Nilgiris constituency, declared reserved after the delimitation, to the DMK, in return for the coastal constituency Cuddalore represented by MoS K Venkatapathy, according to the list released by DMK president and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Sunday. After his Perambalur constituency was taken off the reserved list, Raja was on the look out for a safe seat, and will be contesting from Nilgiris (reserved).

PMK founder S Ramadoss’ lieutenant J Gurunathan alias `Kaduvetty’ Guru, the Vanniyar Sangam leader whose speech against Raja was cited by DMK as the reason for snapping ties with PMK, will contest the elections from newly-formed Thiruvannamalai, a stronghold of the Vanniyar community. A former MLA who lost in 2006, Guru was detained under NSA charges, and subsequently released on November 26 when Karunanidhi made an effort to patch up with the PMK leadership.

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