PMK leader Sowmiya Anbumani in tough three-cornered contest in Dharmapuri

Chennai: The Pattalli Makkal Katchi (PMK), the political arm of the powerful Vanniyar community, has fielded the party's state president Anbumani Ramadoss's wife Sowmiya Anbumani from the Vanniyar stronghold of Bharmapuri.

Sowmiya will have to sweat it out against R. Ashokan of the AIADMK and A. Mani of the DMK.

In the first list of candidates which the PMK released on Thursday, the Dharmapuri seat was allocated to PMK district secretary, Arasangam.

However, party cadres and Vanniyar Sangham leaders convinced the party founder-leader S. Ramadoss to ensure that someone from the family contests from Dharmapuri, considered the stronghold of the PMK and the Vanniyar Sangham. Sources in the PMK told IANS that Ramadoss did not want a family member contesting the polls as already his son and PMK state president was a Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha). The sources said that it was after much convincing that Ramadoss agreed to his daughter-in-law contesting the polls.

The PMK has three MLA’s from the Dharmapuri Lok Sabha constituency. In the 2021 Assembly elections the party won Dharmapuri, Pennagaram and Mettur assembly seats.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Anbumani Ramadoss won the Dharmapuri Lok Sabha seat by a margin of 77146 votes defeating his nearest rival, P.S. Mohan of the AIADMK. However, in the 2019 general elections, Anbumani lost to Senthil Kumar of the DMK by a margin of 70,753 votes.

In the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the DMK has denied a ticket to Senthil Kumar and instead, A. Mani, a lawyer by profession, is contesting the elections.

Interestingly the AIADMK also won in three assembly seats -in the 2021 elections in Palacode, Pappiredippati and Harur