DMK fields Sethu Selvam for Thattanchavady bypoll
DMK names K. Sethu Selvam as its candidate for the October 6 Thattanchavady Assembly bypoll in Puducherry.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has announced K. Sethu Selvam as its candidate for the upcoming bypoll in the Thattanchavady Assembly constituency in Puducherry, scheduled for October 6.
Selvam, who was previously with the Communist Party of India (CPI), met DMK president and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in Chennai on Wednesday, shortly before the party formally announced his candidature.
In the 2021 Assembly elections, Selvam contested from Thattanchavady on a CPI ticket and finished second, securing approximately 32 percent of the vote. His main opponent then was N. Rangasamy, founder of the AINRC and current Chief Minister of Puducherry.
Selvam was later expelled from the CPI in 2025 over allegations of financial impropriety. He subsequently contested the April 2026 Assembly polls from the same constituency as an Independent candidate.
In that election, he finished third with around 17 percent of the votes, a result that pushed V. Vaithilingam, a Member of Parliament and president of the Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee, to fourth place.