BJP leader Vinoj Selvam expects EPS' return as Tamil Nadu Chief Mnister

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], April 29 : Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Secretary Vinoj P Selvam on Wednesday predicted that All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) will be the Chief Minister.

"EPS will again be seated as the Chief Minister, and Tamil Nadu will again be back to its glorious ways of gaining and winning rather than losing out on industries, on businesses and on various verticals to neighbouring states," Selvam told ANI.

Selvam said the people's mandate will decide the outcome for the Tamil Nadu assembly elections.

"Beyond all exit polls, what is very important is the people's mandate. This election is very different from all the previous elections which Tamil Nadu has seen. If you notice the trend in Tamil Nadu, usually, polling is very high in the last one hour between 5 pm and 6 pm. But this election, the polling was maximum between 7 am and 9 am, even during the extremely hot hours of say between 11 am and 3 pm, voting was very high in number. By 3 PM, the polling had already crossed about 82%, which goes to say a lot about the mood of the people," he added.

His remarks come as the pollsters projected the incumbent CM MK Stalin-led Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) alliance winning Tamil Nadu in the 2026 Assembly elections.

The main contest in the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls was between the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), which includes the Indian National Congress, Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by AIADMK with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) as allies.

Tamil Nadu witnessed strong voter participation across districts, with several regions recording high turnout figures. Karur led the state with 89.32 per cent, followed by Salem at 88.02 per cent, Erode at 87.59 per cent, Dharmapuri at 87.28 per cent, and Tiruppur at 86.33 per cent. Ariyalur recorded 83.09 per cent, Tiruchirappalli 82.76 per cent, and Chennai 81.34 per cent, indicating strong participation in urban and semi-urban regions. Madurai and Thoothukudi recorded 77.89 per cent and 77.56 per cent, respectively.

According to the Election Commission of India, overall voter turnout in Tamil Nadu stood at 82.24 per cent by 5 pm on April 23, with polling for all 234 Assembly constituencies concluding at 6 pm.

The counting of votes will take place on May 4.

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