Chennai: As the voting began for all 39 Lok Sabha seats in the state on Friday, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Kanimozhi said here that the fight is “clearly” between the DMK and AIADMK as the “BJP does not find space in Tamil Nadu.”
Kanimozhi, the DMK’s sitting MP from Thoothukudi constituency, cast her vote at a polling booth in Chennai.
“In Tamil Nadu, I do not even think they (BJP) will come in second place. The fight is clearly between DMK and AIADMK. BJP does not find space here. BJP is not even contesting in Thoothukudi. In Tamil Nadu, INDIA alliance will get 39 seats and 1 seat in Puducherry,” she said before casting her vote.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has fielded R Sivasamy Velumani against Kanimozhi while the Tamil Manila Congress (Moopanar) is contesting the Thoothukudi seat as part of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). It has fielded SDR Vijayaseelan in the seat.
In the 2019 elections, Kanimozhi won by a margin of 3,47,209 votes against the BJP’s Tamilisai Soundararajan, who is contesting from Chennai South this time. Major issues in the constituency include a demand for livelihood in those villages in Thoothukudi that were hit by monsoons and floods.