Chief Minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami is pitted against DMK chief MK Stalin as Tamil Nadu votes today to elect a new government.
This is the first state poll minus its two icons -- J Jayalalithaa who died in 2016 and M Karunanidhi who died in 2018. The results will decide if EPS, as the CM is commonly known, has finally come out of .the towering shadow of Jayalalithaa or will it be finally Stalin's moment under the sun?
It's a straight contest between the two. EPS is often viewed as an "accidental Chief Minister" because he was handpicked by Sasikala, Jaya's former aide who has since been expelled from the AIADMK. Stalin, on the other hand, is itching to take his bow as CM - a position his father Karunanidhi held five times between 1969 and 2011.
Also in the mix are actor-politician Kamal Haasan and his Makkal Needhi Maiam hoping to make a political mark.