Chennai: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is contesting 27 of the total 234 seats in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. These are largely urban centres. In the outgoing assembly, the BJP has four seats—Tirunelveli, Coimbatore South, Nagercoil and Modakkurichi.
However, in the current polls, it is not contesting all four seats, having ceded some to allies and reworked its strategy in others.
Most of the 27 seats the party is contesting are in the western and southern regions of Tamil Nadu, where it has a relatively stronger presence. Often tagged as the “urban party”, the BJP announced four women among its 27 contestants.
Among the rest, the BJP has given tickets to most of the candidates who contested the parliamentary elections in May 2024, barring former party president K. Annamalai.
The BJP is contesting 27 seats as part of the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)-led alliance. Among other major partners, the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) is fighting 18, the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) 11, and the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) five.
The majority of the seats are with the AIADMK, which is contesting 172 seats.
The BJP and Congress will face off in four constituencies: Vilavancode, Colachel, Aranthangi, and Ooty.
As votes are being counted to elect a new assembly in the state the BJP has never governed, here is a look at five seats to watch out for from the party’s perspective
Mylapore (Chennai): Former state BJP president Tamilisai Soundararajan—who resigned as the governor of Telangana in March 2024 and unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha polls that year—has been fielded from the Mylapore seat, the only constituency within Chennai the party has been allocated by the alliance.
This seat is being followed by many, as Tamilisai resigned as governor to re-enter active politics. Tamilisai is one of the seniormost leaders in the state, and her performance will be closely watched by party members too. Tamilisai lost all three legislative assembly elections she contested—Radhapuram (2006), Velacherry (2011), and Virugambakkam (2016).
If the BJP manages to win this one seat in Chennai, it could give the party much-needed momentum to gain ground in the capital.
Avanashi (SC): Another former state BJP president, Loganatha Murugan, is contesting Avanashi, reserved for the Scheduled Caste community. This is a high-stakes seat for the BJP, currently serving as the Union Minister of State (MoS) in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
For decades, the BJP has been trying to expand its presence in the Nilgiris district and the western Kongu region beyond its strongholds in Southern Tamil Nadu. A win in Avanashi will strengthen the BJP’s hands in negotiations with the AIADMK, which usually sweeps this region.
Coimbatore North: The BJP has fielded its Coimbatore South MLA Vanathi Srinivasan from the Coimbatore South seat. As the current president of the BJP’s National Mahila Morcha, Vanathi Srinivasan’s elevation was seen as part of the party’s effort to move beyond its “Hindi heartland” image and build greater resonance among voters in Tamil Nadu.
Vanathi’s victory in the Kongu Nadu region would be crucial for the BJP’s expansion in Tamil Nadu’s textiles and industrial belt, given the party has always banked on development as a key poll narrative.
Sattur: The BJP’s decision to field its state president, Nainar Nagendran, from Sattur initially raised eyebrows, given that his traditional base is Tirunelveli. A former AIADMK MLA and minister, Nainar was appointed state BJP chief in part to facilitate a smoother working relationship with the party’s principal ally in Tamil Nadu. For the BJP, still striving to move beyond its modest tally of four seats in the state, a victory here would not only reinforce Nainar’s standing within the party but also help strengthen its foothold in the southern belt.
Vilavancode: The BJP has fielded S. Vijayadharani, former Tamil Nadu Mahila Congress president and former general secretary of the All India Mahila Congress, from the seat. Vijayadharani’s shift to the BJP in 2024 was viewed as a major blow to the Congress.
A three-time MLA from Vilavancode, she is considered a high-profile candidate of the party. The results would tell if she could also win on the BJP’s lotus symbol, which has a fair traction in Southern Tamil Nadu.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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