The ruling AIADMK released its first list of six candidates for the April 6 Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu ahead of arch-rival DMK and pending conclusion of seat-sharing with allies, including the BJP. The party's star candidates, chief minister K Palaniswami and deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam will contest from their respective home constituencies of Edappadi in Salem and Bodinayakanur in Theni districts. The AIADMK allotted 23 seats to ally PMK days ago, before DMK finalised seat-sharing with Indian Union Muslim League, Manithaneya Makkal Katchi and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi. The ruling party, however, is yet to conclude the seat- sharing exercise with BJP and others. The IUML and MMK were allotted three and two seats respectively by the DMK and it gave six segments to the VCK.
Customs links Kerala CM to gold scam
The Customs informed the Kerala HC that Swapna Suresh - key accused in gold and currency smuggling through diplomatic channel - had revealed the role of CM Pinarayi Vijayan, speaker P Sreeramakrishnan and three cabinet ministers in the smuggling racket on November 25 last year. Sumit Kumar, commissioner of Customs (Preventive), submitted a statement in this regard in response to a petition filed by the Director General of Prisons and Correctional Services challenging a lower court’s order for granting effective protection to Swapna on her complaint of receiving a death threat in jail against revealing names of high-profile persons.
