Tamil Nadu voted in a single phase on April 19, when the Lok Sabha elections were kicked off across India's 543 constituencies. With the conclusion of the seventh and the final phase of the general assembly elections on Saturday, stakes are running high as the traditional Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) had to deal with an emerging force in the form of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
- Check live updates of various exit polls for 39 seats in Tamil Nadu:
- 10:25 PM Update: WATCH: Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai said, "For a state like Tamil Nadu, this is just a beginning, this is the step in the first direction."
- 8:53 PM Update: BJP candidate from South Chennai Lok Sabha seat, Tamilisai Soundararajan says, "I predict that we will get more seats in Tamil Nadu. We took a bold step, and without the Dravidian parties, we have made a mark in Tamil Nadu politics...have given a good fight..."
- 8: 41PM Update: DMK leader TKS Elangovan told ANI, "INDIA alliance will get around 300 seats easily. NDA will lose in many states including Bihar, UP, Rajasthan, Gujarat.
- 8:02 PM Update: There is a tight contest on the Coimbatore seat from where the BJP Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalai is contesting against former Mayor and DMK candidate P Ganapaty Rajkumar and AIADMK candidate Singai G Ramachandran. Axis My India has predicted that K Annamalai is trailing from Coimbatore.
- 7:40 PM Update: BJP has finally reached Tamil Nadu and the credit goes to K Annamalai, who was the in-charge of the party in the state. The INDIA parties will win 33-38 seats and the AIADMK will not be able to open its account in Tamil Nadu, as per NDTV.
- 6:34 PM Update: The India Today-Axis My India Exit Polls have predicted DMK: 20-22 seats, Congress: 6-8 and BJP: 1-3 seats from the total of 39 seats in Tamil Nadu.
- 6:00 PM Update: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said, "June 4th will mark the beginning of a new dawn for India. In today's meeting of INDIA bloc leaders, DMK will be represented by our party Treasurer and leader of DMK's Parliamentary Party, Thiru. T.R. Baalu avl. May the fascist BJP fall! May INDIA triumph!"
Voter Turnout In Tamil Nadu
This year's election saw a significant voter turnout, with 69.72 per cent of eligible voters casting their ballots across Tamil Nadu's 39 constituencies. Notably, Dharmapuri recorded the highest voter engagement at 81.20 per cent, while Central Chennai had the lowest at 53.96 per cent.
Tamil Nadu, with its 39 parliamentary constituencies, has long been a battleground for two major political parties – the DMK and AIADMK. Historically, these parties are known to have alternated in their dominance over Tamil Nadu's political landscape.
2024 Electoral Alliances
In the lead-up to the 2024 elections, the political alliances in Tamil Nadu have undergone significant changes. The DMK is a key member of the newly formed INDIA bloc. Meanwhile, the AIADMK withdrew from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to establish and lead a new coalition, AIADMK+.
The DMK-led INDIA bloc and the AIADMK+ coalition are both vying for dominance in the Lok Sabha seats.
2019 Lok Sabha Elections
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the alliance led by the DMK, won a landslide victory, taking 38 of the 39 seats with an average of 1.51 million voters in each one.
2014 Lok Sabha Elections
The 2014 general election saw AIADMK, under the leadership of then chief minister J Jayalalithaa, securing a sweeping victory with 37 seats, while the BJP and Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) won one seat each. The DMK, led by the veteran politician M Karunanidhi, failed to win any seats.
The results for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be declared on June 4.
