Rajya Sabha polls: MMK's two MLAs to support Kanimozhi

CHENNAI: Manidhaneya Makkal Katchi, which has two members in Tamil Nadu Assembly, today extended its support to DMK candidate Kanimozhi in the June 27 biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu.


"We met DMK chief M Karunanidhi and extended our support in the RS polls," MMK leader M H Jawahirullah said.

MMK has two members -- Jawahirullah (Ramanathapuram) and Aslam Basha (Ambur) in the Assembly.

DMK, which has 23 members in the Assembly, is set to contest the sixth seat with principal opposition DMDK's candidate A R Elangovan.

DMDK has 29 members, including seven dissidents and has sought the support of Congress, which has five members in the Assembly.

The last day for withdrawal of nominations for the polls to six Rajya Sabha seats is June 20.

The ruling AIADMK is already assured of four seats with its strength of 151 members in the 234-member Assembly.

Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had agreed to withdraw the candidature of her party's K Thangamuthu, who was nominated for the fifth seat, in favour of CPI's D Raja and he is expected to gain the required 34 votes for victory.

Following is the party position in the assembly: AIADMK 151, DMDK 29, DMK 23, CPM 10, CPI 8, CONG 5, PMK 3, MMK 2, Puthiya Thamilagam 2, All India Forward Bloc 1.