DMDK founder president Vijayakanth on Wednesday decided to field N. Zakir Hussain as his party candidate for the June 12 by-election to the Pudukkottai Assembly constituency.
Mr Hussain, who is Pudukottai party district secretary, will be pitted against ruling AIADMK’s V. R. Karthik Thondaiman.
With DMK, CPI, MDMK and PMK deciding not to enter the poll fray, it could be a straight fight between AIADMK and DMDK in the bypoll which was necessitated by death of CPI MLA S.P. Muthukumaran in a road accident on April 1.
Immediately after the announcement of his candidature, Mr Hussain began his campaigning.
He told this newspaper that he was confident of the winning the bypoll if he worked hard for it. He said he would be filing his nomination on Friday, when the nomination begins.
The CPI (M), which has aligned with DMDK for the local body polls, is likely to extend support for DMDK’s candidate as it decided not to leave the ruling party unchallenged in the bypoll.
“A formal announcement on extending support to the DMDK will be made in a day or two,” a senior CPI (M) leader said.
Nominating Thondaiman for the bypoll, AIADMK supremo and chief minister Jayalalithaa had constituted a working group, which includes almost the entire state cabinet, to ensure the victory of the party nominee.