Battle lines drawn as AIADMK switches to campaign mode

Chennai: With a month to go for Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, the battle lines are clearly drawn and the AIADMK camp is making apparent efforts to get a headstart ahead of the ruling DMK Bloc by quickly finalising the seat-sharing deal, identifying constituencies for itself and allies and switching on to the campaign mode.

The Edappadi K Palaniswami-led AIADMK, which leads the NDA in Tamil Nadu will take on the DMK in certain urban centres considered to be the ruling party’s stronghold.

The Assembly polls will be held on April 23 and counting of votes taken up on May 4.

Determined to win over 210 out of the 234 Assembly constituencies in the state, the AIADMK has announced that it would contest from 169 seats, leaving the rest to allies, while the DMK has readied its poll battle machinery in as many as 175 constituencies. For its part, the Stalin-led party has set a target to secure over 200 seats.

DMK has announced that ‘Rising Sun’ will be in fray from 175 Assembly segments, indicating it would include smaller allies that would face the polls under the ruling party’s poll symbol. The AIADMK would take on the DMK in about 13 out of the 16 constituencies in Chennai, which has been electing Chief Minister M K Stalin, his son and deputy CM Udhayanidhi, Health Minister Ma Subramanian and Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister P K Sekar Babu, to name the very prominent persons in the DMK.

The AIADMK has allotted three seats to its allies while retaining 13 in the city. It has also announced its first list of candidates, with Palaniswami testing his electoral fortunes once again from Edappadi in Salem district, while a number of former ministers and sitting and ex-MLAs are also in fray.

While Seeman-led Naam Tamilar Katchi is in the fray in all the constituencies, actor-politician Vijay is gearing up to announce his TVK party candidates for 234 seats in the high-stakes poll battle.

Vijay, a top cinema star with a huge fan following, is likely to hit the campaign trail this week. Only these two leaders with a film background would take on the Dravidian majors that are backed with numerous political parties, respectively, in the election.