Tamil Nadu’s 234 Assembly seats will go to the polls on Thursday with 4,023 candidates in the fray.
The ruling DMK, which leads the Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) that includes the Congress and other allies, is vying for a second consecutive term that has remained out of grasp since filmstar and chief minister M.G. Ramachandran split the party in 1972 to form the AIADMK.
The AIADMK-BJP-led alliance is the principal challenger, but the traditional binary battle has turned into a three-cornered fight with the rise of actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).
Around 300 companies of security forces have been deployed at 75,064 polling stations.
The DMK alliance won a two-thirds majority in the 2021 state polls and swept all 39 Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 general election. The SPA is banking on its
welfare schemes and has attempted to use the failed delimitation and women’s reservation bills to corner the BJP and its allies for allegedly trying to undermine the influence of states like Tamil Nadu that had successfully controlled their population.
The NDA has targeted the DMK on crime and alleged appeasement of minorities.
The TVK has positioned itself as the party of change in an attempt to break the duopoly of the Dravidian majors.
Chief minister M.K. Stalin and his son and deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin are contesting from Kolathur and Chepauk-Tiruvallikenni in Chennai, respectively. Opposition leader and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami is defending his Edappadi seat in Salem district. TVK leader C. Joseph Vijay is fighting from both Perambur in Chennai and Tiruchirapalli East.
Voting will start at 7am and continue till 6pm. Election authorities in neighbouring states have directed employers to give a paid holiday to workers from the poll-bound state. Lakhs of Tamil workers are engaged in Kerala’s tea and coffee estates as well as in Bengaluru’s service sector. Counting for all seats will take place on May 4.
The state has witnessed an aggressive enforcement campaign against the influence of money and materials. State's chief electoral officer Archana Patnaik said the total value of intercepted items had reached ₹1,262 crore. "The enforcement machinery has been particularly active on digital platforms, where 163 FIRs have been lodged in connection with various violations," she said.