MGR, Jayalalithaa, Now Vijay? Poll On Tamil Nadu's Pick For Chief Minister

Part of the reason of TVK's possible dominance, Axis My India contended, is the people's desire to have the 51-year-old actor-politician as the Chief Minister.

29 Apr 2026, 18:53 · www.ndtv.com

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Tamil Nadu's politics may shift as Axis My India exit poll predicts TVK winning 98-120 seats
37 per cent people prefer Vijay as chief minister, ahead of MK Stalin and E Palaniswami
TVK has appealed strongly to first-time voters, with 68% voting for the new party, according to Axis My India

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New Delhi:

Tamil Nadu, the citadel of Dravidian politics for over 50 years, with a binary politics dominated by the DMK and AIADMK, could be in for winds of change, Axis My India exit polls have predicted. While much has been said about the "Vijay effect", with many speculating that the actor-politician heading the fledgling TVK could end up as a kingmaker, Axis My India has predicted that his two-year-old party could end up winning 98 to 120 of the state's 234 seats, where the majority mark is 118.

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This is quite a deviation from the rest of the pollsters, who have, by and large, predicted a second term for the DMK-Congress coalition.

Part of the reason of TVK's possible dominance, Axis My India contended, is the people's desire to have the 51-year-old actor-politician as the Chief Minister. Its data shows that Vijay is the most-preferred Chief Minister, with 37 per cent people rooting for him. The DMK's Chief Minister MK Stalin, who is hoping for a second term, is the choice of 35 per cent and former Chief Minister E Palaniswami 22 per cent.

Read: Vijay To Be Tamil Nadu's Hero, NDA Sweep In Assam: Axis My India Exit Poll

Tamil Nadu is a state known for silver screen idols making a successful quantum jump to become leaders of the masses and occupying the state's top post. Cases in point include MG Ramachandran, his wife Janaki Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa.

Ideologically, Vijay had carved a niche for himself, turning this assembly election into a triangular contest.

His TVK has consistently rejected pre-poll alliances and positioned itself as an independent alternative to the state's two dominant Dravidian parties that grew out of social justice movements opposing caste inequalities and championing social reforms. And Vijay had held on to that stance even under massive speculation that his party would join the NDA fold.

Earlier today, dismissing exit poll projections, TVK spokesperson Radhan Pandit had predicted that "Our Vijay will become Chief Minister".

"We are just ignoring these exit polls. I am sure we are going to sweep this election by above 170 or above 140. We studied very well. We had our personal survey. We are sure about a minimum 45% of vote-banking. It's not between 20-25 per cent... 108 hours to go for the election counting... 109th hour, we are going to take the oath. Our Vijay will become the Chief Minister extraordinarily...," Pandit told news agency ANI.

Axis My India's data -- collected from nearly 45,000 people -- indicated that the TVK has captured a huge vote share from the first-time voters; 68 per cent of them have voted for the party.

Besides, 59 per cent of 20-29-year-olds and 45 per cent of the 30-39 age group has also voted for the new party.

Of the 35 per cent people who have been batting for a change in this election, 77 per cent have given a big thumbs up to TVK.

Asked by senior journalist Vir Sanghvi if Vijay is likely to become the opposition to the DMK, replacing the AIADMK, Axis My India's Pradeep Gupta said this is "because people want change and particularly in this new age, they want change with a fast pace... particularly since in over 50 years, they have been seeing and witnessing only the DMK and AIADMK".

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