With the higher-octane campaign for the April 6 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls concluding yesterday, the stage is all set for voters to take more than. The elections for the 234-member assembly will make a decision regardless of whether it will be a hat-trick for the Edappadi K Palaniswami-led AIADMK or will mark the return of MK Stalin-led DMK to energy. There are 3,998 candidates in the fray for the election which is also set to witness a battle among arch-rivals AIADMK and the DMK, apart from the debut of actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan who has floated his party Makkal Needhi Maiam and is contesting in alliance with some other regional parties.
Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections 2021: Key constituencies and candidates
Edappadi: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami is contesting from his classic Edappadi constituency. DMK has fielded T Sampathkumar from the constituency. Besides Independents, some other candidates in the fray are Dhasapparaj (MNM), Sri Ratna (NTK) and Sekar (AMMK). Edappadi constituency falls beneath the Salem Lok Sabha constituency. There are about 2,84,378 electors.
Bodinayakkanur: Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam is contesting from Bodinayakkanur constituency, which falls in the Theni district. He is taking on Thanga Tamil Selvan of DMK and M. Muthusamy of AMMK who also occurs to be staunch supporters of late J Jayalalithaa. Theni is also a Parliamentary constituency and is regarded to be a bastion of Panneerselvam. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, it was the only seat that helped the AIADMK win.
Kolathur: DMK President MK Stalin is contesting from the Kolathur constituency. He is the sitting MLA from the seat. The AIADMK camp is counting on its government’s welfare schemes to win from the seat. It has fielded Aadi Rajaram to take on Stalin. A noted AIADMK warhorse, Rajaram had provided Stalin a run for his dollars in the Thousand Lights segment in 2006 as the DMK leader managed to win by a whisker registering a winning margin of just 2,468 votes. There are 2,82,299 voters in the constituency.
Kovilpatti: Former AIADMK leader and AMMK founder, TTV Dhinakaran is contesting from the Kovilpatti constituency. He is getting challenged by incumbent Information and Publicity Minister Kadambur C Raju of AIADMK and DMK-led alliance candidate K Sreenivasan who is contesting on CPM ticket. MNM has provided a ticket to businessman G Kathiravan and Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) has fielded Gomathi Mariappan from the seat. Raju is the sitting MLA from the seat.
Coimbatore South: An intriguing fight is getting witnessed in the Coimbatore South constituency right after Kamal Haasan announced his candidature from the seat. In 2016, Amman K. Arjunan of AIADMK had defeated Mayura Jayakumar S of Congress. AIADMK has provided this seat to the ally BJP this time. While Jayakumar is once again a Congress candidate from the seat, BJP has fielded Vanathi Srinivasan. Other candidates are Abdul Wahab of NTK and R. Duraisamy of AMMK.
Besides these seats, Naam Tamizhar Katchi (NTK) leader Seeman is contesting from Thiruvottiyur, MK Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi Stalin from Chepauk-Tiruvalliken constituency, BJP state unit chief L Murugan is attempting his luck from Dharapuram and BJP’s Khushboo Sundar is eyeing victory from Thousands Lights constituency.
There are more than 6.28 crore eligible voters in Tamil Nadu who will pick 234 members from the 3,998 candidates. AIADMK is portion of the NDA, the other constituents being the BJP, PMK and some nearby outfits. DMK leader Stalin, meanwhile, has allied with the Congress, CPM and other smaller parties.