Chennai: Tamil Nadu polls may be billed as a three-cornered contest, but the city’s constituencies are crowded with nearly 30 micro parties; not because they expect to win, but because they are chasing visibility, bargaining power and future relevance.From Perambur to Kolathur and Velachery, ballot lists are long with names that exist more on affidavit papers than in public memory. Perambur, made high-profile this time with TVK’s Vijay in the fray, reads like a catalogue: Thakkam Katchi, Makkalatchi Katchi, Makkal Murasu Katchi, Makkal Nalvaazhvuk Katchi, Tamilnadu Mahatma Gandhi Makkal Katchi, All India Jananayaka Makkal Kazhagam, Republican Party of India (Athawale), Tamil Telugu National Party. Kolathur, where chief minister M K Stalin is contesting, draws its own pile-up. The ballots are crowded. The contest is not.None of this is new. Most of these parties were on the ballot in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. They made little impact then. They are back now, unchanged in structure but undeterred in intent. For voters, they are filler names and symbols that get scrolled past on the EVM. For candidates, this is a strategy to collect just enough votes to negotiate with bigger parties later.In Perambur, M Geeta, 40, a BCom graduate contesting on NGO-turned-political party Thakkam Katchi ticket, runs a campaign that barely extends beyond pamphlets and door-to-door visits. “We do not accept donations above 5,000,” she says. “People must start thinking that big parties are not solving their issues.”In Kolathur, E Raamadasan, 73, of Makkal Nalvaazhvuk Katchi is contesting with a single-point agenda – fighting for the mothers of students Harisakthi and Harish, murdered in 2025 in Mayiladuthurai district for exposing illicit liquor. “The govt promised the family support and then denied it. I want to expose DMK govt’s corruption and publicity-driven governance,” he says. Also in Kolathur, K Elumalai of Veerath Thiyagi Viswanathadoss Thozhilalarkal Katchi, registered in 2021, is more direct. “Our goal is to gain votes so we can ask for seats in big parties and represent our community,” he says.From Velachery, Poyyamozhi M, of Proutist Sarva Samaj, pitches an economic overhaul in the country. “We are an alternative to capitalism and communism,” he says. In the end, they are contesting to be noticed, but are the people noticing?
