DMK-led front ahead of AIADMK with 138 leads, several AIADMK ministers trail

Chennai: After three rounds of counting for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, the opposition DMK-led front established early leads over the AIADMK-led alliance. The DMK-led
combine was ahead in 138 constituencies out of the 234 seats up for grabs, AIADMK-led front in 94, MNM leader Kamal Haasan in Coimbatore-South, and AMMK leader TTV Dinakaran in Koilpatti.

Though the DMK-led combine was clearly ahead of the ruling AIADMK, it did not have the kind of dominance as predicted by opinion and exit polls of several media
organisations across the country. The DMK itself had leads in 114 constituencies, its allies Congress 12, MDMK 3, VCK 3, CPI and CPM 2 each, and others 2. This showed that the DMK was marginally behind the half-way mark. In the remaining rounds, the DMK performance would have to improve if  it should get a majority on its own.

On the other hand,  the AIADMK-led combine was ahead in 94 constituencies, but 6 of its ministers were trailing, indicating an anti-incumbency trend. The AIADMK had 132 seats on its own, with 41.1 per cent vote share in the 2016 polls. Despite having new allies like the BJP, PMK, TMC and others, it had not only failed to improve upon its 2016 tally, it has also fallen behind in the race for power at the moment. Among the ministers trailing are K Pandiarajan, P Benjamin, and KT Rajendra Balaji.

In the AIADMK-led combine, the AIADMK was leading in 81, PMK in 7, BJP 5, othes 1. Chief minister Edappai K Palaniswami (Edappadi), deputy chief minister and party co-
ordinator O Panneerselvam, Ministers SP Velumani,C Vijayabhaskar, Sellur Raju, Speaker P Dhanapal and deputy speaker Pollachi Jayaraman were among those leading.

For the DMK,  its president M K Stalin, senior leaders KN Nehru, EV Velu, I Periyasamy were leading.