As counting gets under way on Thursday, all eyes will be on the results pouring in from Indira Nagar where Chief Minister N. Rangasamy is contesting. The main rivals standing in the way are V. Aroumougam of the Congress and T.Gunasekaran of the AIADMK.
Apart from Ministers such as P.Rajavelu, N.G.Pannirselvam, T.Thiagarajan and P.R.Siva and Speaker V.Sabapathy alias Kothandaram, the AINRC has fielded General Secretary V.Bhalan and N.S.J.Ayyanar.
The outcome of the decision of AINRC MLAs- P.M.L.Kalyanasundaram, M.Vaithianathan and P.Karthikeyan to contest as rebel candidates in their respective seats, will also been keenly watched.
The principal Opposition Congress has fielded its candidates in 21 constituencies leaving nine seats to it ally.
The Congress has fielded sitting MLAs- former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition V.Vaithilingam, Pradesh Congress Committee president A.Namassivayam, former ministers- E.Valsaraj, Malladi Krishna Rao and K.Lakshminarayanan while two more MLAs- Theni C.Djeaucoumar and P.R.N.Thirumurugan defected to AINRC and fielded as AINRC candidates. Former ministers M.O.H.F Shajahan, M.Kandasamy and R.Kamalakkannan are also in the fray.
In the DMK, unit organisers AMH Nazeem, S.P. Sivakumar and R. Siva are among the notable candidates.
It is a battle royale in Raj Bhavan where AIADMK’s campaign spearhead P. Kannan is pitted against his protégé and sitting MLA K. Lakshminarayanan. The AIADMK’s sitting MLAs- P.Purushothaman, A.Anbalagan, Omsakthi Sekar, A.Baskar and L.Periyasamy were seeking re-election from their respective constituencies.
In PWF, its convener CPI unit secretary R.Viswanathan, VCK organiser Deva- Pozhilan, RSP leader Ravichandran and SFI unit secretary A.Anand are the notable candidates.
