CHENNAI: The Loyola College alumni-led Indian Political Democratic Strategies (IPDS), a Chennai-based firm focusing on political analysis, poll surveys and research, has released its latest opinion poll results declaring that Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin is poised to return to power in the upcoming Assembly polls.
The survey places TVK president actor Vijay as the second-most preferred Chief Ministerial candidate, trailing DMK chief MK Stalin, ranked first, and ahead of AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, ranked third.
The opinion poll data were released by the IPDS team at the Chennai Press Club on Saturday. In the Chief Ministerial preference survey, Stalin topped the list, followed by Vijay. Palaniswami was placed third, DMK MP Kanimozhi fourth, and Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin fifth. The findings point to a perceptible shift in the political landscape, particularly with TVK's entry.
Regarding which party would be most affected by the emergence of TVK, respondents said the DMK would take a bad hit, followed by the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and the AIADMK. The Naam Tamilar Katchi is expected to be the least affected, going by the poll survey results.
In the category of young leaders who attract new voters, Vijay ranked first. BJP State president K Annamalai was placed second, followed by Udhayanidhi Stalin in third place and NTK leader Seeman in fourth under the category.
The survey covered all 234 Assembly constituencies and was based on responses from 81,375 people. Of the respondents, 54.8% were from urban areas and 41.3% from rural regions. In terms of age, 25.6% were between 21 and 30 years, 41.3% between 31 and 45 years, and 23.5% between 46 and 60 years.
According to the pollsters, the religious composition of respondents comprised 81.71% Hindus, 10.55% Christians, and 7.75% Muslims.