With major parties and alliances having announced their respective list of candidates (barring the Congress for two seats) for the Lok Sabha election in the State, as many as nine constituencies will witness a three-cornered fight between candidates contesting on the symbols of the ‘Rising Sun’ (of the DMK), the ‘Two Leaves’ (of the AIADMK) and the ‘Lotus’ (of the BJP).
Seeman’s Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) is set to contest in all 39 constituencies in the State as a lone ranger.
The electoral battle in Chennai North, Chennai South, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Namakkal, Nilgiris (SC), Coimbatore, Pollachi, and Perambalur will be between candidates of the DMK, the AIADMK and the BJP.
Key players
Notable candidates in the three-cornered contest in Chennai South are the incumbent MP Thamizhachi Thangapandian of the DMK, who will face J. Jayavardhan of the AIADMK, who had emerged victorious in 2014, and Tamilisai Soundararajan of the BJP. In Chennai North, sitting MP Kalanidhi Veerasamy will contest against Royapuram R. Mano of the AIADMK and R.C. Paul Kanagaraj of the BJP.
In Coimbatore, Ganapathy P. Rajkumar of the DMK will face Singai G. Ramachandran, who heads the AIADMK IT wing, and BJP State president K. Annamalai. An intense contest is on the cards in the Nilgiris (SC) seat where former Union Minister and incumbent MP. A. Raja will contest against Union Minister of State for Fisheries L. Murugan of the BJP and D. Lokesh Tamilselvan of the AIADMK, who is the son of former Assembly Speaker P. Dhanapal.
Overall, the DMK will face the AIADMK in 19 seats, while directly contesting against the BJP in 12 seats. The direct contest between the BJP and Congress will be in seven seats. The grand old party will face the AIADMK in six constituencies. In six seats, the PMK will face candidates of both the DMK and the AIADMK. The fight between the Left parties and the BJP will be in three seats.
Other players
The New Justice Party leader A.C. Shanmugham and Indhiya Jananayaka Katchi leader T.R. Paarivendhar are contesting on the ‘Lotus’ symbol in Vellore and Perambalur seats respectively. In Namakkal, the Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi’s V.S. Madeswaran is contesting on the ‘Rising Sun’ symbol.