The number of ticket seekers have come down by almost one-third, from about 4,500 applicants in 2014 to 1,737 now.
In a major setback, the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu has witnessed a steep fall in the number of aspirants for the ensuing Lok Sabha seats with only 1,737 people filing the application on Thursday.
The number of ticket seekers have come down by almost one-third, from about 4,500 applicants in 2014 to 1,737 now. The fall comes despite the ruling party extending the deadline for filing an application from February 10 to 14. For this Lok Sabha polls, the application was sold at a cost of Rs 25,000 each.
This is the first full-fledged election to be faced by the AIADMK after the demise of its former supremo J Jayalalithaa, who led the party to win 37 out of the 39 LS seats in 2014.
A senior AIADMK leader on condition of anonymity said that in 2014, the cadres were enthused by the announcement to contest the polls without alliance partners and all the seats were available for the contest.
"Though we have not official made any official announcement on the alliance yet, the speculations of the alliance with BJP, PMK and DMDK might have forced aspirants from applying in certain seats," the leader said, adding that moreover, the cadres normally file an application for them and file one on behalf of Amma.
"The demise of Amma also might have resulted in the less number of applications," the leader said.
In post-Jayalaltihaa AIADMK, the is witnessing a new trend of party leaders seeking tickets for their family members and relatives. AIADMK coordinator and deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam's son Ravindranath Kumar filed an application seeking Theni LS seat while an application seeking ticket chief minister Edappadi's son Mithun to contest from Salem filed his supporters. Sons of Ministers MC Sampath and D Jayakumar also sought tickets while relatives of Ministers C Ve Shanmugham, P Thangamani and KC Veeramani have filed applications seeking LS seats. On the last day – Thursday, Health Minister C Vijayabaskar's father Chinnathambi filed an application seeking to contest from Karur LS seat which was being represented by senior AIADMK leader M Thambidurai.
Thambidurai who is highly critical of BJP government at the centre told reporters here played down the Minister's father seeking his LS seat saying that in a democratic country everyone has right to contest elections.
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