A mouse against a lion? This may not an inappropriate comparison for the fight that is on in Chennai's Muslim-dominated Chepauk constituency where Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi is facing electoral debutant Dawood Mia Khan.

Khan, who represents a splinter group of Indian Union Muslim League, is contesting the veteran politician and former chief minister who has never lost an election in his six decade-long public life.

Incidentally, Khan is the grandson of late Mohammed Ismail, who was a highly regarded Muslim leader in the state, and a close friend of Karunanidhi.

Contesting against the first timer in the Assembly elections on May 8, Karunanidhi is seeking his fortunes to enter the state Assembly for a record eleventh time by registering a hat-trick win from his pocket borough, Chepuak. Karunanidhi had carefully nurtured his constituency, which has the smallest number of voters in the state. It has a total electorate of 1,04,165 comprising 52,367 men and 51,798 women.

• Karunanidhi disappoints rural voters

Not only has he spent all the funds under the MLA constituency development programme, but also made the DMK MPs from Chennai sanction funds for development programmes. Using these, he has helped his electorate replace their thatched sheds with asbestos shelters and improve the slum clearance board tenements along the banks of Cooum river besides laying storm water drains.

Located in the heart of the city near the arterial Anna Salai, the constituency is mostly occupied by automobile mechanics, slum dewellers and coolies.

Chepauk, a traditional strong-hold of the DMK from 1977 when the constituency was carved out from Triplicane and Egmore, had seen a non-DMK MLA only once. From 1996, it became Karunanidhi's base. This is for the first time that Karunanidhi has chosen to seek re-election from the same constituency for a third time.

He was first elected from Kulithalai in 1957, then from Thanjavur in 1962, from Saidapet in 1967 and 1971, from Anna Nagar in 1977 and 1980. He resigned from the state Assembly in 1983, protesting the Centre's 'neglect' of the Sri Lankan Tamils cause, but was elected to the state legislative council that year.

• 'No one will kill each other for polls'

He did not contest the 1984 assembly polls as he was the member of the council. He was elected from Chennai Harbour in 1989 and 1991.

During the wave following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi at Sriperumbudur, Karunanidhi was the lone DMK candidate to be elected to the state assembly then. He resigned as MLA and in the by-election, A Selvarasu of the DMK was elected. However, Selvarasu crossed over to the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in 1993.

Complete coverage: Tamil Nadu Assembly elections