DMK analysis predicts victory for INDIA bloc in TN but concedes gains for BJP and NDA too

Chennai: The INDIA bloc would perform well in Tamil Nadu, but not sweep all its 39 seats, while the BJP-led NDA is likely to make some gains, an internal study by Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK on the April 19 Lok Sabha elections in the state has indicated.

Conceding that the BJP has done quite well in the state, the DMK study predicts some seats for the NDA, which includes the PMK and the AMMK in the state.

The DMK leadership has made this assessment after seeking reports from all the district Secretaries, who, in turn, collected the information from local party leaders.

"This is an internal study by the party and we get the feedback from our grassroots cadres, who are close to reality. We have an exact assessment of the number of seats but a sweep might not happen," a senior DMK leader, who did not want to be identified, told IANS.

The leader said that even though BJP will increase its vote tally in many seats, the party may end up without winning any seat. While the fight was between the DMK and the AIADMK in most constituencies, it was a tough three-cornered contest in four to eight seats.

The DMK had a special backroom team who has also reported that the party has performed exceedingly well but the NDA could make a breakthrough, as it had given a tough fight in Dharmapuri and Theni Lok Sabha seats while the BJP itself did well in Tirunelveli and Vellore seats, as well as in Coimbatore, Kanniyakumari, and Virudhunagar seats.

In Dharmapuri, PMK state chief Anbumani Ramadoss’s wife Sowmiya Anbumani was the NDA candidate, and AMMK chief T.T.V. Dhinakaran was the NDA candidate in Theni.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Theni was the only seat in the state that the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance had failed to win.