A spirited and colourful campaign for the Lok Sabha polls has come to an end in Tamil Nadu. Four political formations are looking forward for a share in the electoral pie when the votes are counted on June 4th. In the meantime, how does the electoral landscape of Tamil Nadu look like?
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Tamil Nadu has multiple political parties. Apart from the national parties, we have the two major Dravidian parties and an assortment of political parties representing different interest groups.
If you look at the Tamil Nadu parliamentary constituency map, which has 39 parliamentary constituencies, you will fine Theni (Constituency no. 33) will stand out as it was the only seat won by the AIADMK-led NDA in 2019. The remaining seats are represented by the DMK front parties. In Perambalur Paarivendhar of the IJK was elected on the DMK ticket in 2019, now he has moved to the NDA and contesting on the BJP’s lotus symbol.
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While the AIADMK and DMK have cadres across the State, there are certain regions where they have greater dominance. For instance, the DMK is stronger in Chennai and northern Tamil Nadu. Except for rare occasions such as 1991 and 2014, the Chennai seats have largely remained with the DMK and the region is considered its fortress.
Likewise, in the Delta region, the party’s has greater influence and also has pockets of influence in the south but not evenly spread out.
The western region is generally considered the AIADMK’s fortress but has been breached in 1996 and 2014. The DMK has fielded a candidate in Coimbatore after 1996.
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The AIADMK at one point had greater influence in the southern region and certain delta districts as the Mukkalathors backed it. However, post expulsion of leaders like O Panneerselvam and TTV Dhinakaran, a section of the community feels wronged and believes that party leadership has slipped into the hands of the Gounders. These two leaders who are not contesting in Ramanathapuram and Theni have gained the sympathy of a section of the voters from the Mukkalathor community. It remains to be seen how the AIADMK handles this situation.
As for other parties, the PMK has considerable sway among the Vanniyars. It has a standard 5% vote share but its influence spreads across 90 Assembly segments where it at time determines the victory or defeat of rivals. This influence extends to Dharmapuri and Salem. In Dharmapuri the party has fielded its leader Anbumani Ramadoss’s wife Sowmiya Anbumani, a VIP candidate. In Chennai South former Governor Tamilisai has been fielded.
The BJP enjoys some influence in constituencies such as Chennai South, Coimbatore, Tiruppur and Nilgiris. It has fielded VIP candidates such as Annamalai and L Murugan from Coimbatore and Nilgiris. The party also has influential pockets in certain southern districts and has fielded Nainar Nagendran in Tirunelveli.
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In Kanniyakumari, former Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan is pitted against the sitting MP Vijay Vasanth of the Congress.
Other VIP candidates include T R Baalu of the DMK (Sriperumbudur), Kanimozhi (Thoothukudi), Karti Chidambaram (Congress – Sivaganga) and Sasikanth Senthil (Congress – Tiruvallur SC).
Parties like the VCK headed by Thol Thirumavalavan (Chidambaram SC) has influence in northern districts. The Puthiya Tamilagam leader Krishnanasamy (Tenkasi SC) is contesting on an AIADMK ticket. He is pitted against John Pandian of BJP.
The DMDK founded by actor Vijayakant has fielded his son Vijay Prabakaran in Virudhunagar.
With the State going to polls on April 19, we will know on June 4 if the electoral map changes drastically from what it is now.