Tamil Nadu will witness the polling for the assembly elections on Tuesday amid tight security in the state. Polling across 234 assembly constituencies in 38 districts of the state will begin at 7 am. A total of 3,998 candidates are in the poll fray.
In view of COVID-19, the number of polling stations has been increased to 88,937. The counting of votes will be done on May 2.
The state, which witnessed the fiercest electoral battles between M Karunanidhi of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and J Jayalalitha of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) for over three decades, now is going to Assembly polls on April 6 for the first time without the two stalwarts of Dravidian politics.
All you need to know
Tamil Nadu is witnessing a fierce battle between arch-rivals All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). MK Stalin-led DMK, which is out of power since 2011 in the state, is in a head-to-head battle with the ruling AIADMK in nearly 130 constituencies.
AIADMK is contesting the poll in a pre-poll alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Paattali Makkal Katchi (PMK).
PMK and BJP are contesting in 23 and 20 constituencies respectively in the 234-member Tamil Nadu assembly while the AIADMK has fielded its candidates for the rest of the seats.
While the DMK has allotted 25 seats to its Congress party, and six each for CPI, CPI (M), Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and Vaiko's Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK).
Besides AIADMK and DMK, actor-turned-politician Kamal Hassan's Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) and the alliance between TTV Dhinakaran's Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) and Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) are promising to give the third alternative in the state.
In the 2016 assembly elections, the AIADMK won 134 seats, the DMK bagged 80 seats and Congress managed to secure only 8 seats. The BJP drew a blank. In 2019, the DMK-led front had won 37 of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu in the general elections.
