Updated: May 22, 2019, 10:38 PM IST
Tamil Nadu is a large state that has played a key role in the formation of all coalition governments from 1996 to 2014. With 39 seats, the state has seen battles that have delivered dramatic rises and shocking defeats.
The state is dominated by the Dravidian parties - the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). The BJP has never had more than a token presence in Tamil Nadu, while the Congress is a spent force and has not formed a government in the state since 1967. The 'national' parties - whether it is the BJP, Congress or Left - have always needed to ally with either the DMK or AIADMK to be able to win even a single seat.
The BJP and the Congress are both part of alliances led by AIADMK and DMK respectively. And this has created the potential for a ton of drama.
Here are some of the electoral battles you need to keep an eye on in Tamil Nadu:
The constituency will see Union Minister of State Pon Radhakrishnan of the BJP up for re-election. This was one of two seats in the state that the NDA won in the 2014 elections. His rival is the same man he beat in 2014, H Vasanthakumar. The Congressman is a consumer durables baron and a TV channel owner. His brother is a former state Congress chief, and his niece is presently the state BJP chief. This is among the few constituencies in the state where the Congress is still relevant. The BJP and RSS too have had a strong footprint here since the 1960s. The battle will carry a lot of prestige for Radhakrishnan, and holds the promise of fulfilling the Parliamentary dream for Vasanthakumar, who is presently a member of the Tamil Nadu Assembly.
This was one of the two constituencies in Tamil Nadu that the NDA won in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. It will see PMK's Dr Anbumani Ramadoss up for re-election, after his 77,000-vote victory here in the last election. But the indications are that Anbumani, who was Union Health Minister in UPA-1, has a tough battle on his hands. His main challenger is Dr S Senthil Kumar of the DMK, who will also enjoy a boost from a pocket of Congress influence in the seat. The AMMK, which broke away from the AIADMK after the death of J Jayalalithaa in 2016, has also fielded former state minister P Palaniappan, who served as MLA from one of the Assembly segments till last year.
AIADMK senior leader and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai faces a tough re-election contest from this constituency. Thambidurai has won from this constituency four times in the past, and had prevailed with a margin of 1.95 lakh votes here in 2014. But this time, there are a number of factors lined up against him. The DMK and Congress are back in alliance and his own party has faced a split. This time, his main challenger is S Jothimani of the Congress.
DMK leader A Raja, who gained national notoriety in the 2G Spectrum Scam case, is eyeing a return to the Lok Sabha from this constituency. He had been acquitted of all charges in the 2G case in 2017. He had lost the seat in the 2014 elections, which saw his party swept aside by the AIADMK wave. The constituency is reserved for SC candidates, and is made up of hilly areas surrounding the hill station of Ooty and its foothills. The BJP also has pockets of influence in the constituency, which it would hope to transfer to AIADMK candidate M Thiagarajan.
This is one of the heated contests in Tamil Nadu in this election. Congress has fielded Karti Chidambaram, the son of its senior leader P Chidambaram, who has won from this constituency seven times. However, it has not exactly been a fortress for him and won't be for his son. Karti will face senior BJP leader H Raja, who has gained attention in recent years as a motormouth. Raja however has a proven pocket of influence in the constituency, which he has demonstrated time and again, despite not winning so far. However, this time he will be hoping that the AIADMK's vote here has not been too badly fractured by the split in the party, and that those votes do get transferred to him. Both Karti and Raja had contested on their own here in 2014, and gained a significant number of votes though neither was even close to winning. Karti had secured close to 30,000 votes less than Raja.
Thoothukudi is a key constituency to watch. Anger is running high against the Centre for its continued backing of the unpopular Sterlite plant, which had led to tensions and a massacre by police last year, in which 13 people were killed. The anger in this deep south constituency is likely to have played a key role in the election, which is the first since the massacre. The DMK has chosen this constituency for the electoral debut of K Kanimozhi, daughter of its late leader M Karunanidhi. In what is more likely to be a symbolic contest, the BJP has fielded its state chief Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan against Kanimozhi. There is a significant minority vote component in the constituency, along with a particular caste component that both candidates went out of their way to woo.