The AIADMK on Wednesday (March 4, 2026) announced the renomination of its senior leader, M. Thambi Durai, for the lone Rajya Sabha seat that it would contest.
This was announced by the party general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami in a release.
In another release, he said another seat of the Upper House had been allotted to the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK).
Mr. Thambi Durai held the post of Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker twice and that of Union Minister for Law, Justice, Company Affairs and Surface Transport in the National Democratic Alliance regime headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee during March 1998-April 1999. He first entered Parliament in 1984 when he was elected from the Dharmapuri Lok Sabha constituency, defeating Parvati Krishnan, a prominent Communist leader. He served the Lok Sabha for five terms and entered the Rajya Sabha in April 2020. During 2001-02, he was Education Minister in the AIADMK Government in the State and remained a member of the Assembly till 2009.
