With only hours to go before the voters queue up in front of the polling booths to cast their votes, the multi-cornered fight for the throne of Tamil Nadu has boiled down to promises versus freebies.

Jayalalithaa’s 100 units of free electricity per month, free cell phones, and 50 percent subsidy for women who want to buy two-wheelers will compete with total prohibition, promised by other parties.

More than 5.8 crore voters in Tamil Nadu will vote on Monday (with those in Aravakurichi voting on May 23) to choose their representatives from the more than 3,700 candidates, including two transgender persons, in the fray.

According to the media, the contest is between the AIADMK, led by Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa; the DMK-Congress alliance, led by M. Karunanidhi; the DMDK-People’s Welfare Front-TMC, led by Vijayakanth; the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), led by Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss; and controversy-prone Seeman’s Naam Thamizhar Katchi (NTK), which has caught the fancy of some sections of the people.

While Jayalalithaa contests from R.K. Nagar, M Karunanidhi is testing his popularity at his hometown Tiruvarur, Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss (PMK) is standing in Pennagaram, and Vijayakanth is contesting in Ulundurpet. Other big names include MK Stalin, from Kolathur; and the BJP state president Tamizhisai Soundararajan from Virugambakkam.

Despite constant accusations of turning a blind eye towards the violations committed by the ruling party, the Election Commission is taking no chances with the security. Of the 64,000 voting booths, about 10,000 have been identified as potentially problematic, and nearly 1500 have been classified as seriously sensitive. Rajesh Lakhoni, the Chief Electoral Officer, has said that paramilitary forces brought in from other states will be deployed at all the polling booths where trouble is expected.