The exit polls for the Tamil Nadu assembly elections have predicted a comfortable victory for the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK)-led alliance with the ruling AIADMK lagging with 58-66 seats. A close contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress is predicted in Puducherry.

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According to Republic-CNX, DMK and its allies are poised to win between 160-170 seats in Tamil Nadu, compared to 58-66 for the incumbent AIADMK, 0-2 for Kamal Hassan’s MNM and 4-6 for AMMK. 

Meanwhile, P-MARQ predicts DMK will win between 165-190 seats, AIADMK will win 40-65 seats, 1-3 for AMMK and 1-6 for others. 

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Polling for the 234-member Tamil Nadu assembly was held in a
single phase on April 6 and 72.78% of the registered voters cast their ballots
to elect new legislators. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami-led All India
Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) is eyeing re-election, while MK Stalin-led Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(DMK) is seeking to come to power.

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The
Stalin-led party forged an alliance with several parties that include Congress,
CPM, CPI, MDMK, IUML, MMK, AIFB and VCK. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that
is ruling at the Centre is seeking to make inroads in the southern state with
the help of the alliance with the ruling AIADMK.

For
the ruling party, the polls were extremely crucial as they were the first since
the death of J Jayalalitha in 2016. Right before the election, her close aide,
VK Sasikala, announced her retirement from public life.

Currently,
the AIADMK controls the Assembly with 124 seats and DMK has 96 members in the
House.

Also read: VK Sasikala,
Rajinikanth: Controversies that surrounded Tamil Nadu polls

The
other parties in the fray include actor-turned-politician Kamal Hassan’s Makkal
Needhi Maiam (MNM) and MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul
Muslimeen (AIMIM) that tied up with Sasikala’s nephew and former AIADMK member
TTV Dhinakaran’s The Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazhagam (AMMK).

The
votes will be counted on May 2.

On the other hand, the Republic-CNX exit poll predicted a close fight for Puducherry, with the BJP poised to win between 16-20 seats, compared to the 11-13 seats for the Congress. It predicted 0 seats for other parties. 

ABP-CVoter predicted 19-23 seats for the NDA and 6-10 seats for the SDA. 

Polling for the 30-member
Assembly of the union territory (UT) of Puducherry was held in a single-phase
on April 6 and 78.13% of the registered voters cast
their votes till 7.10 pm.

In
February, Chief Minister V Narayanasamy-led Congress government
resigned after the CM failed to prove his majority. President’s Rule was subsequently
imposed in the UT.

A
total of 324 candidates contested the April 6 election for the 30-member
Assembly.

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Among
the prominent candidates was N Rangasamy of the All India NR Congress (AINRC).
He contested from two seats: Thattanchavady and Yanam. The party led the
National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the UT. The other NDA members, the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(AIADMK), contested from nine and five constituencies respectively.

Congress
that led the Secular Democratic Alliance (SDA) contested from 14 seats. It’s a
crucial election for the party that was in power till February.

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Its
alliance partner, the DMK, contested from 13 seats and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal
Katchi (VCK) and Communist Party of India (CPI), the other SDA members,
contested from one seat each.

Results
will be announced along with that of four other states, Assam, Kerala, Tamil
Nadu and West Bengal, on May 2.