Chepauk Opinion Poll 2021: Will DMK's Udhayanidhi Stalin find victory in upcoming Assembly Election?

Chennai, Apr 03: A high-voltage drama is all set to explode in Tamil Nadu where the voters will hit the polling stations on April 6 in a single phase. While Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), floated in 2018, is also seeking to make inroads in the state, Chief Minister Palaniswami filed his nomination from native constituency Edapadi in Salem.

At the same time, MK Stalin, the DMK supremo who will fight his first polls without his father Karunanidhi, did the same from Kolathur in the city, with both seeking a hat-trick of sorts from their respective seats.

Dominated by the DMK and AIADMK, Tamil Nadu is seeing fresh competition this time from MNM's Kamal Haasan, the actor-politician who has been critical of both parties on corruption and governance, as well as Sasikala's nephew TTV Dhinakaran-led AMMK.

Udhayanidhi Stalin, DMK's youth wing president, is also making his electoral debut, with the party nominating him from Chepauk-Triplicane, a segment represented by his late grandfather and former chief minister M Karunanidhi thrice.

Unlike Assam and West Bengal, but similar to neighbouring Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry, Tamil Nadu will head for polls in a single phase.

According to the ABP CVoter Opinion polls early projection, UPA (DMK + Congress + Others) is expected to see a gain of 6.6 per cent of votes. On the other hand, NDA (AIADMK + BJP + Others) is projected to witness a loss of -9.1 per cent of votes in the upcoming polls.

The new entrant Kamal Haasan-led MNM is projected to gain 4.4 per cent votes in the election.

The Election Commission of India (EC) announced the poll dates on February 26, triggering the imposition of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). The entire state will head for polling on April 6. Counting of votes will happen on May 2, along with the other states.