It will be a clash of titans at Kolathur, a newly-carved constituency in the city, where senior Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader and Deputy Chief Minister M K Stalin will square off with All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's Saidai Duraiswamy, a blue-eyed boy of the late MG Ramachandran.
It will be interesting to see who will represent the constituency as its first MLA in the Tamil Nadu assembly.
Stalin chose the seat, a segment of North Chennai Lok Sabha constituency, as it had given DMK's T K S Elangovan a lead of over 25,000 votes in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. Being a compact constituency Stalin can campaign easily and concentrate on other seats in the state.
Since 1984 Stalin has been contesting from Thousand Lights constituency which has the maximum number of Muslim votes while Saidai Duraisamy had represented Saidapet once.
With just 10 days for the polls, campaigning is mostly door-to-door.
While M K Stalin has assured voters that infrastructure in the locality would be developed, Duraiswamy has been seeking votes on the basis of his party's 'achievements'.
Stalin accompanied by a host of DMK workers addressed several meetings while Duraiswamy's campaign was led by DMDK founder chief Vijaykanth, whose
"Though fondly known as 'Saidai' Duraiswamy (for contesting from Saidapet, he should be called 'Kolathur' Duraiswamy from now on," Vijaykanth had said while seeking votes.
Besides 'Saidai' Duraiswamy is also known for his Manithaneyam IAS and IPS Centre run by Manithaneyam Charitable Trust, which offers free IAS and IPS coaching.
Areas that come under Kolathur assembly constituency include Vajjravel Nagar, Vinayagapuram, Perambur, Puzhal, Jawahar Nagar, Sakthivel Nagar, Villivakkam and Periyar Nagar.
The locality is also famous for sale of ornamental fish. The constituency has 1.98 lakh voters, with an equal number of male and female voters.
According to the Election Commission's website, Kolathur, along with nearby localities -- Poniammanmedu, Malligai Avenue, Thiruvalluvar Nagar, Balaji Nagar, Tirupati Nagar, Sri Vel Murugan Nagar, Valarmathi Nagar, United Colony Main Road, Agadheswarar Nagar, Ganaga Nagar, Selliamman Nagar -- come under Division 62.
Peravallur (Ward No 50), GKM Colony, Jawahar Nagar, Vetri Nagar, Paper Mills road, Periyar Nagar, Sembium (Ward No 51), Gopalapuram, Anbazhagan Nagar, Janakiram Nagar, Perambur (Ward No 52), Somasundaram Vinayagar Koil Street, Ayanavaram Ward No 53, Chitharanjan Colony (Ward No 54) also come under Kolathur.
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