Chennai: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) ally Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) on Tuesday (July 2) named party general secretary Vaiko as its candidate from Tamil Nadu for the July 18 Rajya Sabha polls.

A high-level MDMK meet in Chennai decided to nominate its chief Vaiko for the lone seat allotted to it by the DMK as part of a pre-poll agreement. A resolution in this regard was adopted in the meet.

The 75-year old leader is a staunch supporter of the cause of Tamils in Sri Lanka and had been a DMK Rajya Sabha member from 1978 to 1996.

Of the six Rajya Sabha vacancies from Tamil Nadu, the ruling AIADMK and DMK could elect three each given their respective strength in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

While the AIADMK has 123 members, including the speaker, the DMK has 100 MLAs, its allies Congress and IUML seven and one seats respectively in the 234-member House.

The DMK has already announced former Tamil Nadu additional advocate general P Wilson and M Shanmugam, the general secretary of its trade union wing, the Labour Progressive Front, as its candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls.

In the AIADMK camp, the names of senior leader KP Munusamy and party veteran Tamil Magan Hussain are doing the rounds for the Rajya Sabha polls.

The ruling party has assured one Rajya Sabha seat to its ally PMK in a pre-poll pact.