Former chief minister of Tamil Nadu and leader of the AIADMK Edappadi K Palaniswami cast his vote at a Salem voting location on Friday. All 39 parliamentary constituencies in Tamil Nadu are participating in the first round of the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP has stepped up its campaign after forming an alliance, while the DMK-led alliance looks to duplicate its performance from 2019. The AIADMK, which broke away from the BJP-led NDA in September, is interested in this poll.
Salem: Former Tamil Nadu CM and AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami shows his inked finger after casting his vote in the first phase of #LokSabhaElections2024 pic.twitter.com/7BkiZyavE8
— ANI (@ANI) April 19, 2024
Various constituencies in Tamil Nadu are witnessing intriguing contests with prominent leaders in the fray. In Coimbatore, state BJP chief K Annamalai faces competition from DMK’s Ganapathy P Rajkumar and AIADMK’s Singai Ramachandran. The seat, currently held by CPI’s PR Natarajan, saw consecutive defeats for BJP’s CP Radhakrishnan in the past two elections.
K Annamalai has unveiled a manifesto for Coimbatore, promising the establishment of institutions like the Indian Institute of Management and government offices. Ganapathy P Rajkumar expressed confidence in his victory and criticized the BJP’s alleged lack of action for Coimbatore.
In Thoothukudi, DMK’s Kanimozhi contests against AIADMK’s R Sivasami Velumani. Kanimozhi won comfortably in 2019, defeating former Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan. Tamilisai Soundararajan is now contesting from Chennai South, where DMK’s Thamizhachi Thangapandian is the incumbent MP.
Vidhya Rani, daughter of Veerappan, contests from Krishnagiri on Naam Tamilar Katchi’s ticket against BJP’s C Narasimhan and Congress’ K Gopinath. In Nilgiris, A Raja of DMK competes against Union Minister L Murugan of BJP, while AIADMK fields Lokesh Tamilselvan.
Sivaganga witnesses a three-cornered battle with Congress’ Karti Chidambaram facing BJP’s Devanathan Yadav and AIADMK’s A Xavierd. Karti seeks a third victory from the seat.
In the 2019 elections, the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance secured a landslide victory, winning 38 out of 39 seats in Tamil Nadu. Notable contests include Ramanathapuram, where former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, supported by BJP, competes as an independent against AIADMK’s Jayaperumal and K Navaskani of the Indian Union Muslim League. Virudhunagar sees incumbent Congress MP B Manickam Tagore facing BJP’s Radikaa Sarathkumar and DMDK’s V Vijayaprabhakaran.
The INDIA bloc, comprising DMK and Congress, aims for a repeat of their 2019 performance.
