Dravidian majors field their best in battleground Chennai

Giving only four of the 22 constituencies in Greater Chennai to its alliance partner, Congress, Karunanidhi's DMK has indicated its keenness to reclaim its original position in the city by taking on the ruling AIADMK.
Recognising Congress's pan-TN presence, the party has been given 10 seats in the north, nine in the west, 11 in central and 11 in southern regions.Districts in the delta and far south have seen many seats being given to the Congress.
After initial hiccups in seat sharing, the Congress managed to secure Ambattur, Royapuram, Mylapore and Maduravoyal seats this time, compared to six in 2011. The famous split of G K Vasan and the resultant infighting has dented the prospects of the Congress bagging more seats. Muslim allies, IUML and MMK have had an eye on Harbour and Chepauk-Triplicane, where community consolidation is higher, but the DMK has been in no mood to relent its traditional strongholds.
Sitting MLAs M K Stalin and MLA J Anbazhagan will likely retain their Kolathur and Chepauk-Triplicane seats. Former mayor M Subramanian is likely to be pitted against AIADMK leader C Ponnaiyan in Saidapet.
DMK leaders are hopeful of winning in the aftermath of allegations over poor handling of Chembarambakkam floods in December. "People are seething with anger and will dump the ruling AIADMK for its mis-governance and Greater Chennai Corporation for its ineffectiveness," Subramanian said.
The DMK camp wants to take to the masses the stalling of its ambitious projects, including the Rs 1,815 crore Chennai Port-Maduravoyal project, which would have otherwise eased container traffic movement in north Chennai.
Jayalalithaa has put out a list of candidates for all seats, nominating heavyweights to win over Chennai-ites. While Jayalalithaa herself is leading the pack from Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar, ministers B Valarmathi and S Gokula Indira, senior leaders Panruti S Ramachandran, C Ponnaiyan, D Jayakumar, G Senthamizhan and former DGP R Natraj besides seven councilors of the corporation including deputy mayor P Benjamin will soon descend on the city streets seeking votes.
Former DMK leader Parithi Ilamvazhuthi, who retained Egmore seat for over two decades, is set to test his fortunes again.