Slain forest brigand Veerappan’s daughter, Vidya Rani Veerappan, has filed her nominations papers as the Naam Tamilar Katchi candidate for the Krishnagiri Parliamentary constituency, for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Ms. Vidya filed her nomination on Monday, March 25, 2024. A former BJP member, Ms. Vidya was an office-bearer of the party’s OBC wing, but left the party to join the NTK recently. She was announced as the NTK’s candidate for the Krishnagiri constituency on Saturday, March 23.
A resident of Krishnagiri, Ms. Vidya was earlier with the PMK, before she joined the BJP.
Ms. Vidya, 33, trained as a lawyer, and runs a school in Krishnagiri where she has been living for several years now. She will be up against Congress candidate K. Gopinath, BJP candidate C. Narasimhan and the AIADMK’s V. Jayaprakash.
Ms. Vidya’s entry into the electoral fray comes two decades after her father, a notorious sandalwood smuggler, was killed by the Tamil Nadu Special Task Force in October 2004.
Ms. Vidya Rani said, if elected, she would focus on issues including farmers’ welfare, water management, upgrading the quality of life of people living in remote hills, quality education and upgrading hospitals.
