Star Candidate: Sowmiya Anbumani/ PMK

DHARMAPURI: In a surprise pick, PMK chose Sowmiya Anbumani replacing Arasangam, for the Dharmapuri constituency. This is the second occasion in which the party founder S Ramadoss’ vow not to bring in any of his family members into politics has been broken, the first one being his son and Sowmiya’s husband Anbumani Ramadoss who is the party president now.

Sowmiya has been leading an environmental organisation named Pasumai Thayagam. In her first electoral plunge, she is contesting with the support of the BJP-led NDA in a seat considered a stronghold of the PMK due to Vanniyar votes. Her husband lost the seat in 2019, which he had won in 2014. Sowmiya’s father M Krishnasamy was once president of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee. Even though she is relatively new to electoral politics, she has some organisational experience.

She attended Earth Summit - 2002 held in Johannesburg in South Africa and the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Copenhagen in Denmark as part of Pasumai Thayagam. She also participated in the Better Air Quality Conference in 2012 held in Hong Kong. She was a part of two annual UN Commission meetings on the Status of Women.

She has a doctorate in Sociology from Madurai Kamaraj University and studied at the Kennedy School of Government Studies at Harvard University in the US. She has to her credit a documentary on Pallikaranai marshland. Despite being her first attempt in the election, Sowmiya is confident of a win, given her star status and the fact that DMK has replaced its MP Dr Senthil Kumar. But, lack of support from Dravidian majors is a drawback she has to overcome.