A total of 182 candidates are finally in the fray for the 10 constituencies in Madurai district for the assembly elections on May 16.
This is the second highest number of contestants for assembly polls in Madurai district. In the 1996 election, there were 197 candidates in the contest.
The sharp increase compared to the previous election in 2011, in which there were 113 candidates, is mainly due to the multi-cornered contest in this election which is in contrast to the past trend of having only two major alliances headed by the DMK and AIADMK.
The number of independent candidates has not increased considerably compared to the previous election. While there were 64 independents in 2011, there are 72 independents in this election.
With 18 women candidates, the present election also has the distinction of having the maximum number of women contestants in the district in an assembly election. The second highest was in 2011, which saw nine women candidates although none could win.
The increase in women candidates, however, was not due to major parties fielding women candidates. Except for DMK, CPI (M), VCK, SDPI and BJP fielding one candidate each and Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) fielding two women, the remaining were independents or from smaller parties.
This election is also the first time a transgender is in the contest. M. Anushiyasree, who is contesting from Madurai South constituency, is one of the two transgenders contesting in this election from across Tamil Nadu. M. Gopi Shankar, an intersex person, is contesting from Madurai North as a candidate of Anaithu Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK).
The key candidates in the contest in Madurai district include ‘Sellur’ K. Raju (AIADMK) and U. Vasuki (CPI (M)) in Madurai West, R.B. Udhaya Kumar (AIADMK) in Tirumangalam, V.V. Rajan Chellappa (AIADMK) in Madurai North, P. Moorthy (DMK) in Madurai East, P.T.R.P. Thiagarajan (DMK) in Madurai Central.
On the last day for withdrawal of nominations on Monday, 26 candidates, predominantly dummy candidates of parties, withdrew their nominations.
The independent candidates were allocated symbols on Monday. Officials said that barring three constituencies where the number of candidates were 16 or below, two ballot units of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) will be needed in all other constituencies.
