Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry Prepare for V-Day as Campaigns End

A battle for states will be fought on multiple fronts in Tamil Nadu, and a two-sided tug-of-war in Kerala on 16 May.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minsiter J Jayalalithaa, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Kerala Chief Minister Ommen Chandy (left to right). (Photo: The Quint)

Political campaigns in the south-Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and union territory of Puducherry came to an end on Saturday. The campaigns, which started in March, ended 48 hours before the states go to vote as per the rules laid down by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

(Photo: Shalaka Shinde/The Quint)

In Kerala, some of the prominent names who took part in the campaign were:

• Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi
  
• Congress leader AK Antony
  
• Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad
  
• CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury
  
• CPI National Secretary Sudhakar Reddy
  
• CPI(M) leader and Tripura Chief Minister Nirpuan Chakravorty
  
• Former Prime Minister Deva Gowda
  
• Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar

Kerala’s campaign kicked-off with state-centric issues like solar and bar bribery scams.

However, it turned into a national debate after Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked up a row with his comparison of Kerala with Somalia.

In Tamil Nadu, the following fronts are all going to fight it out for 243 Assembly seats:

• AIADMK
  
• DMK-Congress
  
• PWF-DMDK-TMC combine
  
• BJP-led alliance
  
• PMK
  

(With PTI inputs)