Rajya Sabha elections: AIADMK fields veteran Thambi Durai again, allots one seat to PMK

AIADMK on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, announced the re-nomination of its senior leader M. Thambi Durai for the only Rajya Sabha seat from which he will contest.

This was announced in a statement by party general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami.

In another statement, he said another seat in the Upper House has been allotted to Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK).

Mr. Thambi Durai served as Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha twice and Union Minister of Law, Justice, Corporate Affairs and Land Transport in the National Democratic Alliance regime headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee between March 1998 and April 1999. He first entered Parliament in 1984 when he was elected from Dharmapuri Lok Sabha constituency and defeated Parvati Krishnan, a prominent Communist leader. He served five terms in the Lok Sabha and entered the Rajya Sabha in April 2020. He served as Education Minister in the AIADMK Government in the State from 2001-02 and remained a member of the Assembly till 2009.