CHENNAI: The political landscape in Tamil Nadu is in a state of suspended animation as all are waiting for the results of the Assembly elections that would be announced on May 4. However, that has not reduced the heat, with leaders from various parties continuing to kindle the embers.
While the challengers, TVK and BJP, attacked the ruling party and its leader MK Stalin, DMK leader PK Sekarbabu said Stalin would return and take oath as the Chief Minister after the results are declared.
Speaking to the media after inspecting the strong room housing ballot units at Loyola College in Nungambakkam on Sunday, Aadhav Arjuna, TVK’s general secretary for election campaign management and its Villivakkam candidate, accused the DMK of resorting to intimidation when confronted with electoral defeat.
"Whenever the DMK senses defeat, it resorts to rowdyism. We witnessed this in Harbour, where minister PK Sekarbabu mobilised supporters to create disturbances," he said, claiming that the political climate had significantly changed in the last four days of polling.
Dismissing speculation about Vijay travelling abroad, Aadhav quipped, "He is not going to Australia; he is going to the moon, with the DMK preparing the rocket," calling such narratives baseless.
Vijay is not going to Australia; he is going to the moon, with the DMK preparing the rocket- Aadhav Arjuna, TVK’s general secretary
Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin's voice will echo in Lok Bhavan for the second time- PK Sekarbabu, DMK leader
The question about vacation came at a time when Stalin has taken a break and has gone to Kodaikanal, which came in for criticism from senior BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan.
While people who stood in queues to vote have returned to their daily work in the summer heat, the Chief Minister has left for Kodaikanal with his family, she said, alleging that it showed governance priorities.
Tamilisai also accused the ruling party of double standards, recalling how DMK leaders had once mocked the then Chief Minister K Kamaraj for official visits to Ooty. “They derided him then, but today defend personal leisure in the name of governance," Tamilisai said in a statement.
Meanwhile, DMK leader and HR&CE Minister PK Sekarbabu expressed confidence that the party would come back to power.
Speaking to reporters in Dindigul after praying at Palani Murugan temple, he said after results are declared on May 4, "Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin's voice will echo in Lok Bhavan for the second time," in an apparent reference to the swearing-in ceremony.
To a question on Tamil Nadu registering record poll percentage in Assembly elections this time, he said one should compare the voter turnout with the 2021 polls, indicating that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has resulted in the higher poll percentage.