Tamil Nadu is all set for simultaneous elections to the 38 out of the 39 Lok Sabha constituencies and 18 out of the 22 Assembly seats on Thursday. About 5.8 crore voters will decide the fate of 822 candidates contesting in 38 Lok Sabha constituencies. A total of 269 candidates are in the fray for the bye-elections.
The Lok Sabha polls will witness a four-cornered contest. The two major fronts are: the AIADMK-led alliance comprising the PMK, BJP, DMDK, TMC, PT, New Justice Party and others and the DMK-led front consisting of the Congress, MDMK, IUML, CPI, CPI(M), VCK, KMDK and IJK. AMMK led by former AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran and actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan’s MNM are both facing the polls alone.
The Election Commission (EC) will hold bye-elections for 18-Assembly constituencies on Thursday while the remaining four seats will go to polls on May 19. Winning the bye-elections are crucial for the survival of the ruling AIADMK, which rides on a slim majority.
This election season has been plagued with allegation of voter bribery and the Lok Sabha Election in Vellore constituency was cancelled after the Income Tax Department seized unaccounted cash from the residence of DMK leaders. Speaking about the number of cases so far, the EC said that 4,400 FIRs had been registered.
The EC has identified 8,200 booths as sensitive and vulnerable out of the total of about 67,700 booths. Arrangements for live webcasting of the polling has been made in about 30,000 booths. On Thursday, polling will begin at 7 a.m. and will come to an end at 6 p.m. However, in Madurai, the polling will end only at 8 p.m. owing to the Chithirai festival.
As far as security is concerned, 160 companies of para-military forces will be deployed across Tamil Nadu apart from about 1.4 lakh security personnel from the departments of police, prison, forest, home guard and others.
The Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) will be deployed in all the polling booths, along with the electronic voting machine.
For the first time in several decades, both the AIADMK and the DMK will be fighting the polls without their iconic leaders- J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi who are no more. Arithmetically, the AIADMK-led front has an advantage. But the electoral landscape has changed after Jayalalithaa passed away and the party has split into two.
In 2014, the AIADMK swept 37 out of the 39 Lok Sabha seats getting 44% vote share. The remaining two seats were won by the BJP in Kanyakumari and PMK in Dharmapuri.
The DMK on its own got 23.6% vote share in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. However, they did not win any seats.
The prominent personalities in the electoral fray are: Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai (Karur), Union Minister and BJP’s Pon Radhakrishnan (Kanniyakumari), H Vasanthakumar (Congress-Kanniyakumari), Karti P Chidambaram (Congress-Sivaganga), H Raja (BJP-Sivaganga), Kanimozhi (DMK-Thoothukudi), Tamilisai Soundararajan (BJP-Thoothukudi), TR Baalu (DMK-Sriperumbudur), Dayanidhi Maran (DMK-Chennai Central), A Raja (DMK-Nilgiris) and Anbumani Ramadoss (PMK-Dharmapuri).
(With inputs from IANS)
Source: The News Minute