After winning 2 seats each, Vijay, Suvendu face a choice

E-PaperSubscribeSubscribeEnjoy unlimited accessSubscribe Now! Get features like Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay is likely to resign from Tiruchirappalli East and retain Perambur in Chennai, while West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendhu Adhikari is likely to resign from Bhabinapur assembly seat, where he defeated chief minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee, and retain his home seat of Nandigram, according to leaders familiar with the matter. TVK leaders said Vijay is likely to retain the Chennai seat, his home constituency. A BJP leader said Suvendu Adhikari is likely to retain Nandigram, which falls in his home district of East Medinapore.Under the Representation of the People Act, a candidate, who has got elected from two assembly seats, have to vacate one of the seats within 14 days of the notification of the election result by the Election Commission of India (ECI). Adhikari defeated Banerjee by 15,105 votes and won from Nandigram with a margin of 9,665 votes. A day after his win, Adhikari visited Nandigram to thank the voters. “Dada is likely to retain Nandigram, which falls in his home district of East Medinapore,” said a BJP leader and close aide of Adhikari. Adhikari, who had defeated Banerjee from Nandigram in 2021 assembly polls, is considered a giant killer having defeated Banerjee twice and is said to be front runner for the CM’s post. The BJP has announced that the swearing-in will take place on May 9, the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, and have appointed Union home minister Amit Shah as observer for electing the party’s legislative head, who would be the CM. Vijay had won from Perambur with a margin of 53,715 votes defeating Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) candidate RD Shekar and from Tiruchirappalli East by 27,416 votes. TVK leaders said Vijay is likely to retain the Chennai seat, his home constituency. He had fought from Tiruchirappalli East to expand his party’s influence in central and southern parts of the state. The party leaders have not ruled out the possibility of nominating U Sagayam, a former IAS officer, for the bypoll from Tiruchirappalli East, to provide more administrative depth to party as majority of the MLAs are first-timers. “The final decision will be of Thalapathy (Vijay),” a TVK leader said.