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Jaya names comedian for RS seat

N Sathiya Moorthy in Madras

The ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Monday nominated Tamil film comedian S S Chandran for the Rajya Sabha seat.

The party has also nominated former member of parliament, P G Narayanan, and two loyalists, S Kamaraj and Gokulchandra for three more seats, while giving away one seat to its ally, Tamil Maanila Congress.

The sixth seat falling vacant from the state now goes to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-led opposition, which has adequate numbers to win one seat.

S S Chandran was in the news last week after calling former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi names in current affairs programmes, specially telecast by AIADMK-sympathetic Jaya TV, following the latter's controversial arrest.

Following this, a petrol-bomb was reportedly hurled at his house, and the Madras police are still investigating the incident.

A former DMK sympathizer Chandran stood by Karunanidhi during the latter's difficult times before the 1996 polls. In between, he had walked out of the DMK to join the breakaway MDMK, but crossed over to the AIADMK after suffering a heart attack and feeling disillusioned with the party.

S S Chandran was a star-campaigner for the DMK, and later on the AIADMK, addressing the front-benchers with crude witticism.

S S Chandran's nomination, along with those of the other three, was announced after Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa chaired a meeting of her allies.

The Vanniyar dominated Pattali Makkal Kacchi, which had walked out of the combine, was naturally absent.

The alliance leaders also reportedly discussed the fallout of Karunanidhi's arrest, and the Centre's directive to the AIADMK government.

However, they refused to divulge anything to the media.

With the AIADMK coming out with its nominees for the Rajya Sabha elections, all speculation regarding the party ticket for sympathisers of Jayalalithaa have come to an early end.

Included in the list were former chief election commissioner TN Seshan, disgraced Supreme Court judge V Ramaswamy, and former MGR Medical University vice-chancellor, Dr B P Rajan.

The latter two had lost the 1999 Lok Sabha polls on the AIADMK ticket, and were said to be hopeful of a Rajya Sabha nomination.

However, Jayalalithaa has settled for 'unabashed loyalists' who could make or break a vote in the Rajya Sabha in times of dire needs. It could become crucial, for instance, if a vote on issues like President's rule were to come up.

For its part, the TMC is yet to name its nominee. The party has got back the seat that it would be vacating, but there are at least a dozen serious contenders.

Leading the list is the outgoing member and former Union minister Jayanthi Natarajan, but Moopanar's son Govindavasan could be the favourite, if the party president decided on letting his son join active politics.

The DMK alliance is still caught up in the issues in the wake of Karunanidhi arrest episode.

There are claimants both within the party and outside, but one dark horse could be former Union finance minister P Chidambaram.

Karunanidhi's Arrest: The Complete Coverage

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