Countdown

December 18, 2000 -- AIADMK supremo J Jayalalitha calling on journalist-lobbyistCho Ramaswamy triggers off speculation about her desire to mend fences with the BJP leaderof the ruling NDA, to the detriment of the DMK.

January 17, 2001 -- Congress high command deputes Pranab Mukherjee for seat-sharingtalks with the AIADMK for the Assembly polls.

Jayalalitha, convicted to three years' rigorious imprisonment in the Tansi land dealwhich bars her from contesting any election for six years, says there is no question ofprojecting anybody else except her as the chief ministerial candidate.

The AIADMK chief also rejects the demand of the Congress and Tamil Maanila Congress forsharing power, saying her party is not receptive to a coalition government.

January 19 - Senior TMC leader says party’s indecisiveness on alliancessending out wrong signals to voters.

February 5 - Two PMK ministers quit from the Union Cabinet and the party pulls outof the National Democratic Alliance, citing the reason of being sidelined by the DMK-ledalliance in Tamil Nadu.

February 6 - PMK joins hands with the AIADMK.

February 7 - Upset by the alliance, Congress leaders rush to New Delhi to appraisethe high command of the situation and get instructions.

TMC leaders also upset. Say Jayalalitha kept them in the dark.

February 13 -- Sonia Gandhi’s choice of CWC nominees upsets Tamil NaduCongress leaders. They say absence of a full-fledged CWC nominee from Tamil Nadu andPondicherry would send out wrong signals to allies.

Jayalalitha says Congress should not have any reservations on PMK joining the AIADMKfront and asks the TMC and Congress to decide on their electoral strategies.

DMK chief M Karunanidhi revives invitation to the TMC to join its combine.

February 19 -- Puthiya Thamizhagam led by Dr Krishnaswamy joins the DMK-led front.

DMK says it will not invite the TMC again to joins its electoral front.

March 3 -- Karunanidhi confirms the NDA had shut its door on the TMC and there wasno room for talks again.

Undecided about the poll alliance with the Congress, TMC founder G. K. Moopanar keepsthe AIADMK, Dalit Panthers and the New Justice Party, guessing.

March 4 -- Jayalalitha says a ''formal decision'' regarding her party's alliancewith the TMC and Congress would be announced the following day.

March 5 -- Senior TMC leaders S Balakrishnan and S. R. Balasubramanian call onJayalalitha minutes after PMK strikes a seat-sharing deal with the AIADMK. The meeting issignificant in the light of the TMC's delay in striking a deal with the AIADMK,unsatisfied as the party was with the seats offered, particularly to the Congress.

March 6 -- The Dalit Panthers India joins the DMK combine, which insiders say willhelp garner Dalit votes.

Jayalalitha offers the Congress and the TMC 45 Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu.

March 7 -- The Congress emphasises that the offer of 45 seats by Jayalalitha to itand TMC is insufficient.

March 8 -- With the TMC delaying a final decision on an alliance, insiders in theAIADMK feel the party may be forced into conceding a post-poll coalition if seat-sharingtalks progress on the lines charted out by allies.

The Congress-TMC tie-up with the AIADMK remains stuck with a senior Congress leadercontending his party was aspiring for a minimum 54 seats for the twosome.

March 9 -- Congress-TMC reach understanding with AIADMK.

BJP allotted 23 seats by the DMK.

March 10 -- The TMC-Congress agree to an alliance with the AIADMK, which gives thecombine 47 seats to be shared and delinks the question of an alliance in Pondicherry.

March 12 -- TMC leader P Chidambaram condemns the poll pact signed with the AIADMK,and appeals to the party leadership to review the decision.

March 13 -- Jayalalitha completes poll alliances in TN by roping in the CPI andCPI(M). The AIADMK to contest 141 seats, the TMC-Congress combine 47 (15 seats for theCongress), the PMK 27, the two Left parties eight each and the

Indian National League and the Forward Bloc one each.

TMC legislators V Ranganathan, Chinnayya, N Sundaram and K Chokkar meet P Chidambaramon his return from Bangalore to express their solidarity.

March 16 -- Chidambaram launches new political outfit -- TMC-Democratic Forum. Theleader says the new outfit would be in place only for 60 days, until after the Assemblyelections. Indications are that the new outfit will contest in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherryas part of the DMK-led NDA in the state, and possibly on the DMK's 'Rising Sun' symbol.

March 19 -- The MDMK accepting 21 seats and the BJP sacrificing two of its original23, the DMK alliance has a smooth-sailing in seat-sharing negotiations.

March 21 -- Executive committee of the TMC recommends suspension of P Chidambaramfrom the party.

March 23 -- The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption of Tamil Nadu policefiles a chargesheet against Jayalalitha for purchasing and disposing of property abroad,without a formal FERA declaration and RBI clearance.

April 2 -- Jayalalitha moves the Madras High Court seeking a stay of her convictionin the Tansi land deal cases to overcome the possible ineligibility to contest the polls.She also seeks a stay of a special judge's order, convicting her in two Tamil Nadu SmallIndustries land deal cases, which also bar her from the polls under the Representation ofPeople's Act.

April 6 -- The Election Commission's clause for registered symbols ofparties to be allotted only to card-holding members of those parties, hits the DMK as 24alliance partners were contesting on the party's 'Rising Sun' symbol before thenotification.

April 10 -- A division bench of the Madras High Court dismisses batch of petitions,including one filed by Jayalalitha, seeking to restrain the Election Commission from usingelectronic voting machines in the Assembly elections.

The Madras High Court reserves orders on the petition filed by Jayalalitha seeking astay of her conviction in the Tansi land deal cases to enable her to contest theelections.

April 14 -- Karunanidhi releases list of DMK nominees. Most constituencies havesitting ministers or legislators contesting on DMK tickets.

AIADMK and TMC reach agreement on the 47 constituencies to be contested by theTMC-Congress combine. The TMC is allotted 18 of the seats it holds in the current Assemblyas also two others of its choice.The party to field candidates in 14 new constituencies.Of the 47 seats, 15 to go to the Congress. Jayalalitha returns to the TMC eight seats thatshe had earlier allotted to her own party. Earlier, Jayalalitha had taken 21 seats held bythe TMC and allotted two of them to the PMK.

Jayalalitha announces decision to contest from Andipatti in Madurai district andKrishnagiri in Dharmapuri district.

April 15 -- Election Commission refuses to comment on Jayalalitha's eligibility.

April 16 -- Jayalalitha files her nomination from Krishnagiri.

April 17 -- MDMK spokesman K. S. Radhakrishnan joins DMK.

Jayalalitha summoned by the principal sessions court in Chennai to appear on June 12 toreceive copies of the chargesheet filed against her for allegedly investing Rs 439.8million in two star hotels in London.

April 18 -- Jayalalitha files her nomination papers from Andipatti.

Disenchantment with the political class and the confusing signals emanating from theelectoral arena leaves Rajnikanth reluctant to join the poll scene. Rajnikanth was largelyresponsible for the DMK-TMC combine coming to power in 1996.

April 19 -- Jayalalitha accuses the DMK Government of "weaving aconspiracy" to prevent her from contesting the elections.

April 20 -- The Election Commission tells the Madras High Court that it stands byits 1997 instructions which bar convicted persons from contesting elections. A divisionbench of the High Court had reserved orders for April 23 on a PIL filed by advocate K. M.Vijayan seeking a direction to the returning officers of Krishnagiri and Andipatti not toaccept the nomination papers filed by Jayalalitha.

Tamil Nadu Janata Party president and former IAS officer V. S. Chandralekha Fridayfiles nomination papers for Andipatti constituency against Jayalalitha.

April 23 -- TMC formally sacks P Chidambaram from party.

The Supreme Court dismisses a petition by Jayalalitha challenging the provision in theRepresentation of People's Act, thus empowering the EC to use EVMs.

April 24 -- Jayalalitha's nominations from Andipatti, Krishnagiri, Pudukkottai andBhuvanagiri rejected on scrutiny.

Nomination of former Union minister and ex-Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly SMuthiah, rejected during scrutiny. The returning officer of Sedapatti constituency pointsto the 1997 order of the EC which bars any candidate convicted for more than two years'punishment from contesting polls for six years. Muthiah and his family members wereconvicted in a corruption case in 1998.

April 24 -- DMK sources announce Prime Minister A. B. Vajpayee will address apublic meeting in Chennai on May 7 to seek support for NDA candidates in Tamil Nadu.

Jayalalitha accuses Karunanidhi of being the mastermind behind the rejection of hernominations.

April 25 -- Jayalalitha announces seeking of legal opinion in wake of hernomination papers being rejected.

P Chidambaram welcomes rejection of Jayalalitha's papers.

April 28 -- A DMK functionary is killed and one of his associates injured afterbeing attacked by some miscreants. Two of the assailants are later shot dead by the policenear Thanjavur.

April 30 -- Chief Election Commissioner M. S. Gill dismisses Jayalalitha's chargethat the EC had "discriminated" against her in rejecting her nomination paperswhile accepting those of Kerala legislator Balakrishna Pillai.

Jayalalitha continues to project herself as the party's chief ministerial candidatesaying "her people and the cadres will not accept anyone else".

May 3 -- With less than a week for the polls, security forces put on high alert. Special vigil being maintained on Veerappan country.