Chennai: As trends of counting of votes by the Election Commission of India in Tamil Nadu emerged on Monday, the Tamila Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) seemed to be inching closer to the halfway mark of 117.
The party was leading in 107 seats after 10 rounds of counting, a stellar performance for their poll debut, which has managed to dash the hopes of a third term for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).
While the TVK hopes for forming a non-alliance government, smaller parties in the state are also likely to extend support to the TVK if trends persist for the party.
The party is hoping to break the duopoly between the DMK and the AIADMK, with both parties assuming power in the state since 1999. The DMK hoped to repeat their 1999-2009 stint again. Meanwhile, the AIADMK had disallowed a fourth term for the party in 2014, before the DMK managed back-to-back win in 2019, and 2021.
Vijay’s family was seen celebrating his party’s performance, watching TV at their residence while singing the ‘whistle podu’ song, which is also the party’s symbol. Vijay’s CA Chandrasekar, and cousins were present for the celebrations.
As the projections of the winning seats came in senior police officials arrived at his residence in the city, with full security detail has been deployed near Vijay’s house.
“You will see that there is no need for any coalition. I can assure you that much, we will form the Govt on our own…There are no ifs and buts; it is a very clear mandate. The message is very clear – people have put a full stop to the loot, corruption, nepotism and family politics. This is the end of dynasty, this is the end of DMK,” said TVK’s national spokesperson Felix Gerald.
Vijay was projected as leading from Tiruchirappalli (East) by a margin of more than 6,000 votes, getting 16,579 votes till the 4th round of voting out of a total of 22 rounds of counting. DMK’s Inigo Irudayaraj however secured around 10,000 votes trailing behind Vijay after the fourth round.
Vijay is also contesting from Perambur, where he has an even bigger leading margin of more than 10,000 votes against DMK’s R D Shekar.
The party workers also celebrated outside the party’s headquarters in Chennai today as latest trends showed the party poised to emerge as the single-largest party in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
Enthusiastic party workers and supporters gathered in large numbers outside the party office, waving flags and distributing sweets to celebrate the party’s performance.
Meanwhile, MK Stalin is trailing in Kolathur with 33,641 votes (−7,975) against TVK’s V. S. Babu, who is leading with 41,616 votes after Round 10/22.
In contrast, MK Stalin’s his son Udhayanidhi Stalin is leading in Chepauk–Thiruvallikeni, though by a narrow margin of 1,048 votes, with 28,349 votes after Round 8/17.
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) was ahead in 64 constituencies, while the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) was leading in 44 seats in projections by the EC.
As of 1:40 PM, the latest statewide tally (Total AC: 234): TVK – 109 | ADMK – 57 | DMK – 49 | PMK – 5 | INC – 4 | CPI(M) – 2 | VCK – 2
Smaller parties, including the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), Indian National Congress (INC), and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), were leading in 4, 5, and 3 seats, respectively.
Counting of votes polled began at 8 am today and the final results are yet to be officially declared by the Election Commission. (ANI)
