Chennai: With Tamil Nadu recording an unusually high voter turnout, the DMK and the AIADMK have begun intensive internal reviews to assess which side stands to benefit.
According to the figures cited by party leaders, about 4.82 crore voters—around 85% of the state’s 5.73 crore electorate—cast their ballots in the Assembly election held the day before yesterday. This is roughly 20 lakh more voters than in 2021, an increase of about 5%.
DMK president M.K. Stalin held discussions with senior functionaries and alliance partners on what the higher turnout could indicate. Party leaders attributed the rise to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the entry of actor Vijay’s party, TVK, into the fray. They argued that if Vijay had drawn very large support, turnout would have climbed even higher, and claimed that anti-incumbency votes may have shifted towards TVK—projecting DMK-led alliance wins in over 150 constituencies.
AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami also consulted key leaders and allies. Alliance leaders told him that votes from groups that backed the DMK last time—such as Dalits, Christians and youth—may have moved to TVK, particularly in urban pockets where the DMK is considered strong. They suggested that if urban vote shares split into double digits, the AIADMK-led alliance could gain.
Both camps are now studying booth-agent inputs and constituency-level data to estimate the likely outcome, even as they debate how the increased turnout and the new political entrant may have reshaped vote patterns.
