BJP STRUGGLES IN SOUTHERN STRONGHOLD
In Tamil Nadu, that remains a challenge.
The southern state has long been an unbreachable fortress for Modi’s alliance, dominated instead by regional heavyweights – the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).
But this election has been shaken up by the political debut of Tamil film star Vijay.
His party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, is contesting all 234 seats independently, injecting fresh uncertainty into the race.
“We are staring at all kinds of probabilities from a DMK sweep to an AIADMK victory purely because of an entry which is undefined and untested,” said Yashwant Deshmukh, founder of polling agency C-Voter.
Analysts say voter sentiment is also being shaped by bread-and-butter issues such as inflation and recent cooking gas shortages, which could fuel anti-incumbency trends.
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