The battle for Thanjavur Lok Sabha constituency will be a multi-cornered contest involving the AIADMK, DMK, CPM, Congress and a party in the BJP alliance.
The constituency is all set to witness a tough fight as AIADMK candidate K Parasuraman, DMK candidate T R Baalu (who successfully contested from Sriperumpudur constituency in the Sriperumpudur constituency in 2009), who replaced S S Palanimanickam, CPM candidate S Tamilselvi and the yet-to-be named candidates of BJP-DMDK alliance and Congress will be fighting for their pie in the 13.11 lakh votes.
Thanjavur parliamentary constituency, which saw some changes during the last delimitation, has been in existence from the first Lok Sabha polls in the year 1952.
As many as 17 elections, including 2 by-elections, have been held for Thanjavur Lok Sabha seat so far.
The constituency comprises six assembly segments, of which five come under Thanjavur district and one (Mannargudi) under Tiruvarur district. The AIADMK holds a slight edge in this contest if the voting pattern of the 2011 Assembly elections is anything to go by.
In the 2011 Assembly polls, the AIADMK alliance won four out of six assembly segments in the constituency. The AIADMK won three segments, while its estranged ally, the DMDK, won one segment. Of the 17 elections held to elect a member for the Lok Sabha, Thanjavur constituency returned Congress candidates nine times, the last one being 1991. It returned DMK candidates for seven times and an AIADMK candidate once, in 1977, when S D Somasundaram emerged victorious. In the 2009 elections, S S Palanimanickam of the DMK defeated his nearest rival Durai Balakrishnan of the MDMK.