AIADMK retains 6 outgoing Lok Sabha MPs

Chennai, March 18 (IANS) The ruling AIADMK has retained six of its outgoing Lok Sabha members in Tamil Nadu while it has nominated the kin of three party leaders.The party is contesting 20 of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu, leaving the rest to its allies. The AIADMK won 37 seats in 2014.According to the list released on Sunday, Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M. Thambidurai (Karur constituency), P. Venugopal (Tiruvallur), J. Jayavardhan (Chennai South), Maragatham Kumaravel (Kancheepuram), Senjee V. Elumalai (Arani) and C. Mahendran (Pollachi) have been retained.Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam's son P. Ravinndranath Kumar has been given the Theni seat while V.V.R. Raja Sathyan, son of MLA Rajan Chellappa, will contest from Madurai.Former Speaker P.H. Pandian's son Manoj Pandian will contest from Tirunelveli.The party also released the list of contestants for by-elections in 18 Assembly seats to be held on April 18 along with the Lok Sabha polls.
--IANS vj/pg/mr