Chennai, Mar 17 (IANS): AIADMK coordinator and Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, O.Panneerselvam will begin his election campaign for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections from March 18.

The campaign of the Deputy Chief Minister will be flagged off from Tiruvotriyur constituency. The AIADMK has released his campaign schedule till March 21.

The AIADMK leader, who is contesting from his family turf of Bodinayikanar constituency, will be campaigning extensively through the state and will also be micro managing elections in the strongholds of his Thevar community, the party has said.

Bodi, Theni, Dindugal, Madurai, Tirunelveli areas have a strong presence of the Thevar community who are traditional supporters of the AIADMK.

V.K. Sasikala also belongs to the same community and it was the proximity of Panneerselvam with Sasikala that led to his emergence as a powerful political leader in Tamil Nadu.

C. Rajeev, Political analyst and Director of Centre for Policy and Development Studies, a Chennai based Think Tank told IANS, "OPS is the man to watch in this election. If there is a close result, OPS will easily get the support of Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam(AMMK) of TTV Dhinakaran to form a government. Edappadi Palaniswami also fears Thevar undercurrent. If the results are by huge margin, either for the DMK-led front or for the AIADMK front then the same equations will continue."