CHENNAI: With exit poll projections suggesting a highly competitive triangular fight, with all three alliances (DMK-led SPA, AIADMK-led NDA, and TVK) upbeat about their chances of forming the government in Tamil Nadu after May 4 election results, their leadership on Thursday asked the cadres and candidates not to lower their guard, and to prepare themselves for the D-Day.
DMK president and Chief Minister M K Stalin met the party functionaries at Anna Arivalayam (DMK headquarters) and asked them to stay vigil on the counting day. Similarly, TVK president C Joseph Vijay met his party candidates and instructed them to rush to Chennai as soon as their victory is announced in their respective constituencies.
Echoing a similar call, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami urged his party cadres not to lose heart over exit polls, most of which have predicted a victory for the DMK-led alliance in the Assembly election.
Stalin, who was on a vacation in Kodaikanal, was back in Chennai on Thursday. “After asking the mood following the exit poll results, he (Stalin) asked us to be careful on the result day since the margin is likely to be thin in most of the constituencies because of the four-cornered fight,” a DMK source said.
Similarly, Vijay called on all his 233 candidates at the party office in Panaiyur. During the meeting, according to the sources, Vijay asked TVK candidates to remain confident of winning the elections.
“So far, you all have worked hard, we are in a better position and we all would definitely win this election. Soon after the results are announced, all the winning candidates should come to Panaiyur and I shall be waiting for you all,” a source quoted Vijay as saying to his party candidates at the meeting on Thursday.
Speaking to the media, TVK senior leader K A Sengottaiyan said May 4 would be a whistle revolution, and Vijay would be the permanent chief minister of Tamil Nadu.
“The world would hear the whistle sound on May 4 and it would be a whistle revolution, with TVK bagging over 200 seats across the state,” Sengottaiyan told reporters at Coimbatore airport.
Meanwhile, rejecting most exit polls that predicted a victory for the SPA, Palaniswami said the AIADMK would secure a clear majority and form the next government.