The list of constituencies that the Congress will contest in Tamil Nadu was released today,bringing the curtain down on a long-drawn drama. Later,the PMK too announced a list of 30 seats. The process of identifying the Congress seats had dragged for several days since the number was finalised at 63. This,in turn,had followed intense bargaining with its UPA partner DMK,with the Congress using pressure to bag 15 seats more than it had been given last time. After a meeting with DMK president M Karunanidhi,Congress state unit chief K V Thangkabalu formally released the list of 63 constituencies at the Congress office. The party will contest from all but two districts,Theni and Dharmapuri,he said. Asked about the demand for power-sharing by Congress hardliners including youth wing leaders,Thangkabalu was evasive. He replied that the aspirations of cadres will be met. This was widely interpreted as an yes. Among the many interesting aspects of the list of Congress seats,one is that the DMK has ceded as many as five constituencies within the Chennai city limits,once considered a DMK bastion. Last time,the Congress contested and lost three seats within the city. The five it has now got include Anna Nagar,now represented by Electricity Minister and senior DMK leader Arcot N.Veerasamy,sparking rumours that the veteran,who has been been unwell,may not be in the fray this time. In the peri-urban areas that lie close to the capital city,the Congress will contest from three more seats,including one now held by outgoing Labour Minister TM Anbarasan. Besides the ones in Chennai and its surroundings,the DMK has conceded seats at all urban nodes across the state,apparently due to the perceived dent in its image among the city voters over the 2G spectrum allocation scam. But the TNCC president downplayed the impact of the spectrum scandal on the election. In the rural part of Tamil Nadu,a notable constituency that the Congress cornered is Radhapuram in Tirunelveli,now represented by four-time DMK MLA M Appavu. There,a bus station proposed,initiated and built by Appavu,to be named after Karunanidhis parents,had earned the ire of Congress activists at the grassroots; they demanded that the facility be named after legendary Congress leader K Kamaraj. The issue had dragged till the intervention of the Chief Minister,after an elderly Congressman had gone on a hunger-strike and turned the local issue into a confrontation between the allis. Newly appointed Youth Congress president M Yuvaraj,a strong critic of of the DMK regime,is expected to be fielded from Erode West. A national general secretary of the youth wing,S Jothimani,is tipped to be a candidate,from her native Karur. About eight or nine Youth Congress leaders could be fielded in the elections,said sources.
