Chennai, Mar 5 (IANS): Karti Chidambaram, a Lok Sabha Congress Member of Parliament from Sivaganga, has requested the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee to field Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha seat, which would be going to the polls along with the state Assembly elections on April 6.

In a letter addressed to Tamil Nadu state Congress Chief KS Alagiri, Karti said Priyanka will be a good choice for the Kanyakumari constituency and her candidature would increase the winnability of the party candidates throughout south Tamil Nadu.

The by-election to the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha seat was necessitated following the death of H. Vasanthakumar owing to Covid-related illness. Vasanthakumar had trounced Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan by a margin of 3 lakh votes during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Karti in his letter said Priyanka's candidature from Kanyakumari would not affect her performance as the Congress General Secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh and instead her presence in the Lok Sabha from Tamil Nadu would increase the stature of the party in the Lower House.

AICC General Secretary (Organisation), K.C. Venugopal, while speaking to IANS said, "I have yet to check this request. It is for the party state unit to communicate to the national leadership as Priyanka Vadra is an AICC General Secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh. Once I have seen the request, we will discuss this at the highest level and then take a decision."

Karti is the son of former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and a leader of the Congress from Tamil Nadu.