Gen next strikes again

It had been doing the rounds for quite some time that Finance Minister P Chidambaram will not contest the Lok Sabha elections this time and that his son Karti was likely to be the Congress candidate for Sivaganga.

The Congress released its list of 30 candidates for Tamil Nadu on Thursday and, as expected, Karti Chidambaram is the party’s candidate for Sivaganga, a constituency that sent his father to the Lok Sabha seven times.

Karti, who has been actively involved in his father’s campaign in the past two elections, will hope to make his debut in Parliament in an election where the Congress is fighting it alone.

Karti holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Texas and a bachelor’s in Law from Cambridge University.

Yet another member of the next generation who will be hoping to enter Parliament is MK Vishnu Prasad, son of former TNCC President M Krishnasswamy, the sitting MP from Arani. Vishnu Prasad, 41, a doctor who has headed the State Youth Congress, is the party’s candidate from Arani.

Krishnasswamy, 74, said he felt it was time to blood the younger generation and that was why he had requested the party’s election committee to nominate his son. Krishnasswamy has been elected twice to the Lok Sabha from Arani.

The Congress list shows that six of the sitting MPs have been re-nominated. Mani Shankar Aiyar, now a member of the Rajya Sabha, had announced his intention to contest from Mayiladuthurai, a constituency that he has represented thrice, long before the party finalised its list of candidates.

TN Congress office bearers feel the party should have tied up with one or more of the regional parties to improve its chances, particularly since it is fighting anti-incumbency feelings.

According to them, campaigning by the two major Dravidian parties — AIADMK and DMK — is well under way and the Congress has been rather late in starting off, which too will affect the party’s chances.

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