Tamil Nadu chief minister and AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa leaves after filing nomination papers at Tondiarpet zonal office in Chennai on Monday. (PTI Photo)
Highlights
- 3 of the 4 CM aspirants filed their nomination on Monday
- Key contest appears to be between Ms Jayalalithaa & Mr Karunanidhi
- Assembly polls to be held in Tamil Nadu on May 16
Three of the four chief ministerial aspirants in Tamil Nadu filed their nomination for next month's polls on Monday with it being an auspicious day according to the Hindu calendar.
AIADMK chief and Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa flashed a victory sign soon after filing her nomination papers from Chennai's RK Nagar Constituency. She is seeking a second term from here and had won with a record margin of one and a half lakh votes soon after her acquittal in a corruption case last year.
The opposition is targeting the 68-year-old Ms Jayalalithaa for her government's alleged poor response during the floods last year. The AIADMK is contesting in 227 of the 234 assembly seats, taking on a fragmented opposition.
AIADMK spokesperson CR Saraswathi, who's also a candidate for the Pallavaram constituency in Chennai, said, "After elections, there would be just one party, the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu. Amma would become the Chief Minister and there would be no opposition party at all."
In central Tamil Nadu, 300 kilometres away, 93-year-old DMK chief M Karunanidhi filed his nomination from Tiruvarur for a second term. The DMK has tied up with the Congress but the opposition is fragmented with actor Vijayakanth leading the Third Front. The PMK and the BJP too are fighting alone.
DMK President M Karunanidhi filing his nomination papers for the Thiruvarur constituency at the District Election Office in Thiruvarur on Monday. (PTI Photo)
All parties have promised prohibition. If elected, Mr Karunanidhi has said his government would also offer waiver of student and farm loans.
His party's Spokesperson TKS Ilangovan said, "There's no infrastructure no employment, total mal administration. People are fed up. We would change everything and people have seen the development under us."
PMK's chief ministerial candidate Anbumani Ramadoss too filed his nomination at Pennagaram in Dharmapuri district. His party too promises waiver of farm and student loans and is trying hard to shed its communal party image.
While the key contest appears to be between Ms Jayalalithaa and Mr Karunanidhi, it would be a record of sorts whoever forms the next government - Ms Jayalalithaa for a second term in 26 years; if Mr Karunanidhi, for becoming the chief minister for the sixth time.