Former minister fielded in Coimbatore

COIMBATORE: Former minister S M Velusamy is jubilant as Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has announced his name for the Coimbatore Corporation mayor seat in the local body elections.The choice of Velusamy is attributed to the hard work done by Velusamy to ensure the victory of the AIADMK and DMDK candidates in the Assembly elections here. Velusamy’s name was originally announced for the Sulur Assembly constituency in Coimbatore district as he was Palladam MLA then. Palladam was merged with Tirupur district. But he lost that chance after DMDK chief Vijayakant urged Jayalalithaa to allot Sulur segment to his party. Jayalalaithaa had then given the seat to the DMDK. Velusamy kept on working for the DMDK’s Sulur candidate K Dhinakaran. Velusamy (57), a BA and BL holder, has held various portfolios in the AIADMK regime from 2001 to 2006.