Tamil Nadu elections: Game on as no clear frontrunners in Madurai

MADURAI: Often referred to as the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu, Madurai has been an unpredictable political arena. All parties give special focus to Madurai since it is a hub and gateway to southern districts. In the 2021 assembly election, DMK and AIADMK won five each of the 10 assembly constituencies in the district. The entry of TVK and growing influence of Seeman’s NTK are expected to change the dynamics this time, with no hot favourites in next month’s assembly election. Both DMK and AIADMK alliances realize the challenges before them. In the past five years, DMK implemented several projects including Kalaignar Centenary Library as well as flyovers in the district. But, the property tax scam in Madurai corporation came as a setback for the party with the arrest of mayor Indrani’s husband and party functionary Ponvasanth. Some damage control was done by asking five zonal chairpersons to resign, eventually leading to her resignation.However, no step was taken to appoint a new mayor, thereby affecting the effective functioning of the corporation. AIADMK capitalised on this situation and has been involved in intensive campaigns and protests pointing to corruption in Madurai corporation. The opposition party has also been criticising poor implementation of basic amenities citing bad road conditions, and lack of cleanliness as seen in the poor ranking of Madurai in Swachh Survekshan Survey 2025. However, DMK is counting on its flagship schemes to work wonders as in other parts of the state.Before seat sharing talks were finalised between Congress and DMK, Congress functionaries in Madurai passed resolutions seeking more seats and power sharing. Congress MP Manickam Tagore said they will seek Madurai North constituency as incumbent MLA G Thalapathy criticised the Congress.Wall posters were also put up in the city seeking Madurai North constituency for Congress. Such open sparring has cast some doubts about cohesiveness of the DMK-led front. Indeed, the seat sharing talks were finalised smoothly later.The first list of candidates released by AIADMK shows a reliance on old guards in the form of former ministers R B Udhayakumar and Sellur K Raju, who have been renominated from Thirumangalam and Madurai West respectively. AIADMK retained Thiruparankundram seat, fielding former MLA and former mayor of Madurai corporation VV Rajan Chellappa. AIADMK has given Madurai South to its ally BJP. In DMK, ministers P Moorthy, Palanivel Thiaga Rajan and Madurai North MLA G Thalapathy are likely candidates.