Tamil Nadu Assembly elections: Congress hopes high, expects 18 seats

The Congress, which is relegated to a junior partner in the DMK-led front, is expecting to get a minimum of 15 seats and a maximum of 18 in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections to be held on April 6.

The polls to elect 234 new members of the Tamil Nadu Assembly will be held in a single phase on April 6 and the counting of votes will be done on May 2.

Although there were initial hiccups in the Congress-DMK alliance, even as the former wanted to contest, but the chemistry between them improved later in the run-up to the elections.

DMK president M.K. Stalin, who has turned out to be the star campaigner, ensured that he travels to all the constituencies where the Congress candidates are contesting. However, in seats like Ponneri and Arthangi there were revolts in the DMK camp for allocating the party strongholds to the Congress, but Stalin directly intervened and settled the matter for the party and all the revolting party leaders were asked to fall in line.

The grand old party is expected to do well in Karaikudi, Kallikurichi, Virudachalam and Thiruvadanai and is eyeing to capitalise on the votes being split by the AMMK-DMDK combine.

The Congress is in a sticky wicket in four to five seats in the western part of the state, with the party leader Mayuara Jayakumar contesting against superstar-turned-politician Kamal Haasan of the MNM and Vanathi Srinivasan, the powerful national president of the BJP's women's unit.

M. Senthilnathan, senior Congress leader in Erode told IANS: "The Congress will perform well in the state but in certain seats like Erode, Omalur and Coimbatore, the party will face a tough battle."

--IANS

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