In 2004, the DMK-led bloc swept the Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu, winning all 39 seats and the lone Puducherry segment, giving the much needed stability to the Congress-led UPA-I regime.
Since then, “40/40” has been the rhetoric of the Dravidian parties to enthuse their cadre, even as a resurgent BJP under K Annamalai is making all out efforts this time to break its political drought and win as many seats as possible.
For the April 19 Lok Sabha elections in TN, most seats could witness a direct three-way fight between the respective blocs headed by the ruling DMK and its rival AIADMK, besides the BJP.
Following are the key Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu.
Thoothukudi–A seat represented by a member of the DMK’s first family–Kanimozhi and largely a DMK bastion. She is likely to be fielded again from this constituency.
The Nilgiris–A reserved constituency and DMK leader and former Telecom Minister A Raja’s turf. The segment includes regions from both the plains and the hills, with considerable tribal population. Earlier, speculations were rife that BJP may field Union Minister L Murugan, although he has now been made Rajya Sabha member from Madhya Pradesh.
Coimbatore— Considered an AIADMK stronghold, presently represented by CPI (M). Reports suggest DMK wants to contest from here and a win would send across a message that it has captured what is considered to be its ‘weak’ zone, ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls. An industrial hub, Coimbatore, like most seats in the western region, has been loyal to the AIADMK, with the party earning siginificant gains from the district and the zone even in the losing causes of 2006 and 2021 state polls.
Sriperumbudur–An industrial hub near Chennai, it is dotted with manufacturing units from some of the biggest global players, such as automaker Hyundai and Foxconn. The seat has seen high-profile poll battles between the DMK and the Vanniyar community-dominated PMK, and the AIADMK too, in the past. For its part, the DMK is confident of retaining the seat won by its leader T R Baalu in the 2019 poll, when he trounced his PMK rival by about five lakh votes.
Sivaganga–Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram’s son, Karti trounced BJP National Secretary H Raja in the 2019 polls with a big majority of about 3.3 lakh votes. Karti is likely to be fielded again.
