The 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly
elections 2021 will be held in one phase on April 6. The 234-member
state assembly is currently held by All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)
with 135 seats and the main Opposition party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)
has 88 seats. The counting of the votes will be held on May 2.

Prominent
candidates in the fray:

From AIADMK and BJP
alliance:

Chief Minister Edappadi
K Palaniswami (Edappadi), O Pannerselvam (Bodinayakkanur), Khushbu Sundar
(Thousand Lights), BJP state President L Murugan (Dharpuram), BJP woman cell
chief Vanathi Srinivasan (Coimbatore South), BJP leader H Raja (Karaikudi
constituency), P Saravanan (Madurai North)

From DMK alliance
partner Congress:

MK Stalin (Kolathur
constituency), Udhayanidhi Stalin (Chepauk constituency)

From MNM

Kamal Hasan
(Coimbatore South)

This is the first state
assembly elections after the death of the towering presence of ‘Kalaignar’ M
Karunanidhi and ‘Amma’ J Jayalalitha. DMK has been out of power since 2011 and
its seat share in the assembly has not crossed double-digit since 2001. It has
formed an alliance with Congress, CPM, CPI, MDMK, IUML, MMK, AIFB and VCK.
Meanwhile, BJP is looking to enter the southern state with AIADMK. Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India
Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has also entered the fray with TTV Dhinakaran’s
The Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazhagam (AMMK). Owaisi-Dhinakaran alliance can
corner some Muslim votes and affect DMK.

How many and who
are eligible to vote:

According to the Election Commission of India, there
are 6.26 crore electors in the state, including 3.18 crore women, 3.08 crore men
and over 7,200 persons from the third gender.

In 2016, Tamil Nadu recorded 74.26% polling, according
to the Election Commission. As many as 4.28 crore voters cast their votes in
232 of the total 234 constituencies in the state.