You know elections are round the corner in Tamil Nadu when the two main political parties – the ruling AIADMK and Opposition DMK – start trading charges against one another.

Virtually kicking off its campaign, the DMK today issued full-page advertisements in English and Tamil newspapers targeting Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

While there was no official response from the AIADMK, messages in social media targeting the DMK President and former CM M Karunanidhi left none in doubt.

If the advertisement is anything to go by, the campaign is likely to get more vituperative and personal once the alliances are finalised and the election date nears.

The DMK’s advertisement attacks the Chief Minister and asks readers if they have seen her in person in the last five years, while her face has been ubiquitous on stickers, banners and on television.

The social media messagetargeting Karunanidhi wonders if anyone has seen him either in the Assembly or even in his Tiruvarur constituency, whereas they could have seen him in cultural shows and weddings of celebrities or a popular dance show on Kalaignar TV.

The 15th Assembly has to be constituted by mid-May, when the term of the current Assembly ends.

Several players

The polls are likely to be a multi-cornered contest, with the ruling AIADMK and the DMK being the main contestants. The DMK and the Congress have firmed up their alliance and details on sharing of seats will be worked out.

All eyes are on DMDK leader Vijayakanth’s course of action. The party was part of the AIADMK front in 2011 polls, and won 29 of the 41 seats it contested. However, the two parties fell out a few months after the polls. The PMK, which was part of the DMK front in the last elections, is projecting former Union Minister Anbumani Ramadoss as its CM candidate.

The MDMK-led People’s Welfare Front includes the two Communist parties and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal. The BJP will throw its hat in the ring, either going solo or in alliance with others.

In 2011, the AIADMK-led front, which included the DMDK and the two Communist parties, got nearly 52 per cent of votes polled, bagging 203 seats in the 234-member Assembly. The DMK-led front, which included the Congress and PMK, got a little over 39 per cent votes and 31 seats.

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