As Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) gears up for the forthcoming Assembly election, its Chief Coordinator Seeman has once again stepped into the fray. At a well-attended “Maatrathai Virumbum Makkalin Maanadu” held in Tiruchy, Seeman unveiled candidates for all 234 Assembly constituencies, signalling that the party will go it alone yet again. Of the total nominees, 117 are men and 117 are women — an equal gender split that the party has consistently foregrounded as part of its political messaging.

With the election drawing closer, Seeman had, over the past year, gradually announced candidates for select constituencies. Now, the full list of 234 candidates has been declared. In this election, Seeman will contest from Karaikudi.

A look at his electoral journey reveals a pattern of steady vote consolidation, even if electoral victory has remained elusive.

In the 2016 Tamil Nadu Assembly election, Seeman contested from Cuddalore and secured 12,497 votes. His vote share stood at 7.24 per cent. Later, contesting from Thiruvottiyur on an NTK ticket, he polled 48,597 votes, registering a vote share of 24.43 per cent. He finished second, while the AIADMK candidate K. Kuppan secured 50,924 votes.

This will mark the third time Seeman is contesting an Assembly election, now from Karaikudi.

Naam Tamilar Katchi was founded by Seeman on May 15, 2010, in Madurai. The party traces its ideological lineage to the earlier “Naam Tamilar Iyakkam” led by Adithanar. It functions in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

In the 2016 Assembly election (234 constituencies in Tamil Nadu), the party’s vote share ranged between 1.07 per cent and 1.9 per cent, translating to approximately 4.58 lakh votes. It did not win a single seat.

By the 2021 Assembly election, contesting all 234 constituencies, the party secured around 6 to 7 per cent of the vote share and emerged as the third-largest political force after the DMK and AIADMK in terms of vote percentage in several constituencies. In 170 constituencies, it finished in third place. However, it failed to open its account.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election (Tamil Nadu and Puducherry constituencies), the party secured between 8.19 per cent and 8.22 per cent vote share — approximately 35.60 lakh votes. In 12 constituencies, it crossed significant vote thresholds, finishing third or fourth in several places. Though it did not win any seat, it secured recognition from the Election Commission as a state party.

From a modest 1 per cent vote share in its early years to crossing the 8 per cent mark in parliamentary polls, NTK’s vote bank has grown steadily. Yet, the party has not tasted victory in any constituency so far. Despite contesting without alliances and facing stiff competition from entrenched Dravidian majors, the party has managed to secure Election Commission recognition — a development that has generated enthusiasm among its cadre base.

For NTK, even a single victory in the upcoming election would mark a significant political milestone — a breakthrough in a long and arduous electoral journey.