Perambur & Trichy East: Actor Vijay's double-seat debut in Tamil Nadu polls

Chennai: Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president and actor C Joseph Vijay will make his electoral debut from two constituencies - Perambur in Chennai and Trichy East - in the April 23 assembly election in Tamil Nadu. He announced this while releasing the full list of party candidates on Sunday and urged the people to back the 'Whistle' symbol in the polls, highlighting TVK's "people-centric approach".

The ruling DMK has fielded incumbent MLA RD Shekar from Perambur, while the Opposition AIADMK front has allocated the constituency to Anbumani-led PMK. From Trichy East, DMK is repeating incumbent MLA Inigo Irudayaraj, while AIADMK has fielded K Rajasekaran.

TVK general secretary 'Bussy' N Anand will contest from T Nagar in Chennai, while KA Sengottaiyan, a nine-time former AIADMK MLA who joined the TVK a few months ago, will fight from his home turf, Gobichettipalayam. Former Tiruppur MP V Sathyabama is contesting from Tiruppur North, and former AIADMK agriculture minister Ku.Pa Krishnan is contesting from Lalgudi. Former MLA VS Babu is contesting from Kolathur, where DMK president and Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin is seeking election for the fourth time. D Selvam, the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee general secretary who joined TVK two days ago, will take on DMK youth wing secretary and deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin in Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni.


As part of his election manifesto, Vijay assured that dedicated efforts would be made to curb the drug menace through a community policy and the establishment of Anti-Narcotic Drug Clubs in schools and colleges. "Our primary goal is to create a drug-free Tamil Nadu," he asserted. He also announced that collateral-free education loans of up to ₹20 lakh would be provided to students pursuing studies from Class 12 to Ph.D.