Chennai: Chief minister M K Stalin took stock of the voting pattern across the state on Friday and held a discussion with state ministers P K Sekarbabu and Ma Subramanian, as well as a few party candidates from Chennai.DMK sources said Stalin wanted to understand why polling in Chennai was lower marginally than in several parts of the state. He also sought details of the party’s field operations on polling day, particularly that of booth agents. DMK had conducted multiple workshops for booth agents and issued multiple instructions to them for poll work. Stalin checked if the booth agents carried out the instructions and asked about clashes between DMK workers and others.Another subject that came up during the discussion was the impact of actor Vijay’s party, TVK. DMK sources said Stalin was informed that TVK would largely eat into AIADMK and BJP votes, though in certain constituencies of Chennai, there were signs TVK may have eaten into DMK votes. Coordination between functionaries of DMK and allies also came up during the discussion. Stalin enquired about voting trends in constituencies where DMK’s alliance partners contested, wanting to know whether the machinery between DMK and its allies functioned smoothly on the ground.Except for DMK spokesperson T K S Elangovan’s interaction with the media, there were no public statements by DMK leaders. Elangovan dismissed TVK’s impact on the elections as insignificant and said that even voters in constituencies where Vijay contested were not ready to back him.Meanwhile, deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin flew abroad with his family on a private trip. In the coming days, Stalin too is expected to leave for a retreat to Kodaikanal, which he visited after the 2021 and 2024 elections.
