Nilgiris Lok Sabha M.P. A. Raja of the DMK, has filed his nomination to contest from the Nilgiris Parliamentary constituency once again, for the upcoming Lok Sabah polls. The nomination papers were filed with Returning Officer M. Aruna on Wednesday, March 27, 2024.
Mr. Raja, who garlanded statues of party leader, M. Karunanidhi, and the ‘Father of the Dravidian movement’ Periyar E.V. Ramasamy, at the party’s office in Udhagamandalam, was joined by Nilgiris DMK district secretary, B.M. Mubarak, Ooty MLA (Congress), R. Ganesh and T.N. Tourism Minister and Coonoor MLA, K. Ramachandran, who accompanied him to the nomination center.
As there was no procession organised from the party’s office to the nomination center, no major traffic snarls took place in Udhagamandalam town on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters after filing his nomination, Mr. Raja said that the DMK, led by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin was fighting to safeguard democracy. He said that corruption and religious extremism had coalesced to threaten the diversity of India.
Speaking to members of the public near the party office earlier in the day, Mr. Raja had said that while he might be from Perambalur, his adopted home was the Nilgiris. “I have ensured that I have kept my promises to the people of the Nilgiris,” he said. Mr. Raja also said that schemes that had first been enacted by the Tamil Nadu government, including schemes targeted at improving the lives of women and children, were now being adopted by other State governments.
Mr. Raja will be up against the AIADMK’s Lokesh Tamilselvan and the BJP’s L. Murugan, both of whom filed their nomination papers on March 25.
