Poll pundits to watch fight for third spot

The five-cornered battle in RK Nagar is crucial for Dinakaran who goes into the polls against the magical symbol of ‘Two Leaves’ and a ruling party candidate, besides the principal opposition DMK which has the backing of almost all the opposition parties. If his assertions to stay in the race for the top two slots should become true, Dinakaran has to draw on his electoral field experience of two decades.

Even if he was pushed to the third spot, his vote share and its impact on the ruling party candidate E Madhusudhanan’s prospects will be keenly watched. Besides Dinakaran, actor Vishal could also eat into the votes of Madhusudhanan, since both the candidates belong to the Telugu speaking people in the area. 

Both the BJP and Naam Tamilar Katchi had polled around one per cent votes in the seat in the 2016 Assembly elections and the national party with claims of becoming the alternative for Dravidian parties has a lot to prove after fielding state-level functionary for the seat. 

Seeman’s outfit has fielded TV channel proprietor Kalaikottudhayam for the second time and the party had began a high-decibel campaign claiming that Tamil nationalist parties would be the alternative for the two Dravidian parties. The NTK has nothing to lose, but the prestige is at stake for the BJP, which is ruling at the Centre.