‘Thalapathy’ Vijay is Tamil Nadu’s most popular young leader, TVK to make major impact in assembly polls: Survey

Superstar Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) is expected to make significant inroads into Tamil Nadu politics in the upcoming assembly elections, a survey has predicted. While M.K. Stalin is well on course to retain power, people who took part in the survey chose ‘Thalapathy’ Vijay as the second most deserving leader for the Chief Minister's post.

The survey was conducted by Indian Political Democratic Strategies (IPDS), a Loyola College alumni-led firm focusing on political analysis, poll surveys, and research. It claimed that the arrival of TVK has brought a significant change to the political scene of Tamil Nadu. The participants opined that TVK's entry will affect the DMK the most, followed by Thol. Thirumavalavan‘s Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and then the AIADMK. In the category of young leaders who attract new voters, Vijay is in first place. Former BJP state president K. Annamalai is in second place, Udhayanidhi Stalin is in third, and NTK leader Seeman is in fourth.

The report found that the DMK is on course to triumph over anti-incumbency and retain power in the southern state. The survey was conducted based on the responses of 81,375 people across 234 legislative assembly constituencies.

Initially, Leader of the Opposition and AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami managed to come second behind Stalin. However, in the new survey, Edappadi has been pushed into the third position by Vijay, Manorama Online said in a report. DMK MP Kanimozhi came in fourth, while Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin secured the fifth position.

The opinion poll data were released by the IPDS team at the Chennai Press Club on Saturday. In terms of the age of the participants in the survey, 25.6% were between 21 and 30 years, 41.3% were between 31 and 45 years, and 23.5% were between 46 and 60 years.