CHENNAI CORPORATION Mayor to contest from Saidapet?

Source:http://expressbuzz.com/states/tamilnadu/mayor-to-contest-from-saidapet/246369.html

By G Saravanan

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai, on February 9, 2011:

CHENNAI: With the date for the Assembly elections expected to be announced in the next three or four weeks, there are strong rumours that Mayor M Subramanian may contest from Saidapet.

According to sources, DMK chief and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, during a recent performance appraisal of party leaders, acknowledged Subramanian’s active work as a Mayor. 
Besides the blessings of Deputy Chief Minister M K Stalin, Subramanian also enjoys a good reputation among the city residents, especially in Saidapet, for his active work as the Mayor.

While holding a powerful position as the Youth Wing’s deputy secretary in the DMK (under Deputy CM M K Stalin who is the Youth Wing secretary), Subramanian was elected to the Corporation Council as its member since 1996 from Saidapet.

In 1996, he successfully contested from Ward 135 (Saidapet-West) and was re-elected to the Council in 2001 as well. As Ward 135 was reserved for women in 2006, he moved to Ward 140 (Guindy-West) and won from there. Besides his stint as a councillor over these years, Subramanian contested a by-election in Saidapet in May 2002, where he lost to AIADMK’s Radha Ravi by a margin of 11,925 votes.

While not denying anything on his candidature from Saidapet, Subramanian said, “Nothing has been decided. It has to be finalised by the party’s top leaders, Kalaignar and Thalapathi. If they ask me, I will oblige.”

As per the final electoral rolls, Saidapet Assembly segment has 2.1 lakh voters. Since the term of the incumbent Corporation Council would end in another eight months (October), he is very much likely to be in the fray in Saidapet constituency.