Chennai:The assembly elections in Tamil Nadu are scheduled to take place in a single phase on April 23. The votes will be counted on May 4, along with West Bengal, Kerala, Assam, and Puducherry. Polls in Tamil Nadu are shaping up into a high-stake contest between the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-Congress coalition and the opposition's All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)-BJP alliance

Severalconstituenciesare emerging as key seats and could act as a decider. Urban seats, such as Chennai and Coimbatore, will go to polls with issues like jobs and infrastructure, while rural and semi-urban seats will be the test of welfare schemes and ideology. The state will also witness key contests involving actor-turned-politician Joseph Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) and Seeman’s Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK).

If we talk about the western region of the states, districts, including Salem, Erode, Tiruppur, Dharmapuri, and Coimbatore, are among the key seats of the area. These are the AIADMK's stronghold. In the 2021 polls, the AIADMK swept 43 out of 57 seats. However, the ruling DMK will be looking to gain control of these constituencies to consolidate its position in the 2026 polls. The entry of Vijay's TVK cols changes the dynamic of the region.

Also Read:Tamil Nadu Polls 2026: DMK-Led SPA vs AIADMK-Led NDA Seat Tally — Can TVK Play Spoilsport?

In the 2021 polls, the AIADMK won all 10 seats in Coimbatore, 10 of 11 seats in Salem, including AIADMK president Palaniswami's Edapaddi seat, all five in Dharampuri, six out of eight in Tiruppur, and five out of eight in Erode. Notably, Erode and Dharampuri have semi-urban and rural seats.

Chennai, Kanniyakumari, Nagapattinam, and Thoothukudi are key districts. The region has 38 decisive constituencies. There is a strong BJP presence in Kanyakumari. Meanwhile, Chennai's Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni is a high-profile battleground from where Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin is the sitting MLA from this seat. He is also contesting the 2026 polls from this seat. Meanwhile, BJP's senior leader Tamilisai Soundararajan is contesting from the Mylapore T Nagar. Out of the eight seats in the Chennai coastal region, the ruling DMK won seven, while the Velachery seat was won by its ally, Congress.

The DMK-Congress alliance also remained dominant in the Northern and Central Coastal Region in the previous assembly polls. The alliance won fie of the eight sets from this region in 2021. Meanwhile, in the Southern coastal region, the AIADMK-BJP and the DMK-Congress alliances bagged four seats each.

This time, Tirunelveli and Nagercoil seats will be in focus. In the 2021 polls, BJP's current Tamil Nadu state president Nainar Nagenthran and MR Gandhi remained victorious in these seats, respectively. Vijay is contesting two assembly seats, Perambur being one of them. The seat will witness an intense electoral battle between Vijay, DMK's R.D. Sekar, and NTK's Vetri Tamizhan.

There are a total of 41 seats in this region. Trichy West, Trichy East, and Srirangam are among the key seats in this region. This time, all eyes will be on the Trichy-East seats as Vijay is making his electoral debut from here, apart from the Perumbur seat. The AIADMK is contesting 29 of the 41 seats in this region, while the remaining seats are left for its partner. Notably, the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance dominated the region. Northwest Chennai's Kolathur seat, though not part of the coastal region, is again a key constituency, from where Chief Minister MK Stalin is contesting.

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