Direct fight between arch rivals only in 11 seats

Salem, Tirunelveli, Pollachi, Tirunavannamalai, The Nilgiris (reserve), Mayiladuthurai, Kancheepuram (reserve) and South Chennai are the seats where the two arch rivals would have a face off on April 18.

While the DMK would have an edge in Chennai South, The Nilgiris and Tirunelveli, the ruling AIADMK would demonstrate its strength in Salem and Pollachi, while the companionship of PMK and TMC would be felt by the ruling party in Tirunvannamalai and Mayiladuthurai.

That both the Dravidian majors have played it safe could be understood from the fact that they have scaled down their seats in their zones of discomfort.

While the ruling AIADMK has comfortably minimised conflict in south and central Tamil Nadu by apportioning seats to allies, the DMK has applied the same formula to negate the traditional AIADMK wave in the west by restricting its contest to four seats. Another major showdown would also be in the seven PMK seats. In all its seats, Dharmapuri, Villupuram reserve (VCK’s Ravikumar will contest in Rising Sun), Arakkonam, Cuddalore, Chennai Central, Dindigul and Sriperumbudur, the PMK would be facing the heat from DMK’s Rising Sun.

Candidature of heavy-weights TR Baalu and Jagathratchakan in Sriperumbudur and Arakkonam was sufficient to understand that it would go down the wire between DMK and PMK in the Vanniyar dominant constituencies. However, PMK’s candidature in Central Chennai and Dindigul should make the job easy for the DMK planners there.

In Dharmapuri seat from where Anbumani Ramadoss or a member of his family is expected to contest, the DMK has cherry picked Dr Senthilkumar, a member of a well-known political family there. Senthil’s grandfather Vadivel Gonder was ex-MLA of Congress with good repute in the region.