BJP releases 2nd list; Tamilisai to contest from Virugambakkam

After the release of its first list of 54 candidates on March 25 for the upcoming Tamil Nadu election, BJP came out with its second list of 30 candidates on Sunday ending the uncertainty over the constituency that would be chosen by state party chief Tamilisai Soundararajan. The party's Coimbatore strongman R Nandakumar will contest from his home constituency of Kavundampalayam.
A medical professional with a visible presence on Tamil television debates, Tamilisai will be contesting the elections from Virugambakkam assembly seat in Chennai.Puratchi Kavidasan of the erstwhile Makkal Thamizhagam party , an outfit of Dalit sub-sect Dev endrakullavallars, who joined the BJP after a meeting with Amit Shah a few months ago, will be contesting from Gan darvakottai, a reserved seat.
The state party women's wing president Muttulakshmi has been nominated to contest from Karaikudi, the home turf of BJP national secretary H Raja who was named in the first list as the candidate from T-Nagar in Chennai. In Mylapore, Nadar community leader Karu Nagarajan has been fielded. Senior state leaders M Jaishankar (Villivakkam), a two-time central Chennai district secretary, and Krishnakumar Nithani, a businessman (Harbour), are other prominent candidates in the city. State party women's wing secretary A R Mahalakshmi has been picked for the Madurai (south) seat.
G Parathasarathy named for Sivaskasi, Durai Kannan for Ramanathapuram and Ms Kani Amutha are also senior party functionaries who make it to the list. M S Ramalinga, senior leader and party vicepresident, will be in the fray from Thanjavur.