Chennai:The AIADMK will contest the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly bypolls in the Madurantakam and Dharapuram reserved constituencies, party sources said on Wednesday.

AIADMK senior leaders Agri SS Krishnamurthy, KP Munusamy, OS Manian, C Sreenivasan and other party leaders visited the Tamil Nadu BJP headquarters, Kamalalayam here on Tuesday to seek support from the saffron party.

The leaders met BJP state chief Nainar Nagendran. The senior leaders also convened a crucial meeting at the residence of AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami in Chennai to chart out electoral strategy for both constituencies.

Party sources on Wednesday said that the discussions focused on candidate selection, grassroots campaign mobilization, and allocation of election duties across the two constituencies to ensure a synchronised campaign effort ahead of the October 6 election. A senior party functionary fromt the AIADMK, seeking anonymity, said that the party would contest in both the constituencies with the support of its alliance. The bypolls were necessitated following the resignation of AIADMK legislators Maragatham Kumaravel (Madurantakam) and P Sathyabama (Dharapuram) who later joined the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).

As per the EC schedule, the filing of nominations will take place from September 9 to 16, scrutiny of the papers on September 17, and the last date for withdrawal is September 19. Following bypolls on October 6, votes will be counted on October 9.

DMK names candidates for Assembly by-polls

Chennai:The DMK on Wednesday announced its candidates for the upcoming Tamil Nadu assembly by-polls in the Madurantakam and Dharapuram reserved constituencies. An official release from the DMK headquarters here said I Paranthaman, joint secretary of the party legal wing and former Egmore MLA, would contest from Madurantakam (reserved). Similarly, S Suganya has been fielded from Dharapuram (reserved).

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued the notification for the by-polls, bringing the Model Code of Conduct into force in Madurantakam and Dharapuram constituencies.

Anbumani seeks strict enforcement of public smoking ban

Chennai:Expressing deep concern over a massive surge in fatalities linked to second hand smoke, PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Wednesday urged central and state governments to strictly enforce the ban on smoking in public places.

Citing a recent global medical study published in “The Lancet Public Health”, Anbumani highlighted that passive smoking claimed 3,25,600 lives in India in 2023 alone and that represents a 49.56 per cent increase compared to 1990, when 2,17,700 deaths were recorded.

According to the study, mortality rates due to secondhand smoke rose by 61.74 per cent among men and 38.35 per cent among women. While the population exposed to passive smoking grew by only 18.40 per cent from 37.50 crore to 44.40 crore, the nearly 50 per cent jump in fatalities underscores the severity of the hazard.

“The primary reason for this alarming trend is the failure to curb public smoking. Innocent non-smokers, particularly women and children, suffer severe health consequences due to the irresponsible actions of others,” Anbumani said in a statement.