Kumaresan. M

Palaniswami's post quickly set off political chatter because it came amid intense uncertainty over whether Vijay’s Vijay-led TVK had managed to gather enough support to cross the majority mark in the 234-member Assembly.

The AIADMK shifted over 25 MLAs to a Puducherry resort amid uncertainty over government formation in Tamil Nadu. The move came amid poaching fears, hectic parleys by parties, including TVK, and a fluid numbers game around the 118-seat majority mark.

From the Congress to the AIADMK, parties are scrambling to back Thalapathy Vijay, not out of ideology, but for survival. If a government isn't formed, the TVK is likely to return with a landslide, which will put the existence of all parties in Tamil Nadu at stake.

Vijay’s TVK has intensified efforts to form a coalition government in Tamil Nadu after emerging as the single largest party with 108 seats. AIADMK sources earlier said the party was planning to support TVK, but Vijay has paused talks after sealing an alliance with the Congress.

Palaniswami said the election would be a referendum on the DMK government’s performance. He claimed the scale of public turnout reflected growing dissatisfaction with what he described as a “detached and directionless” administration.

MK Stalin accused Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan of “saffronising” education and linking funds to Hindi imposition, while also attacking AIADMK’s alliance with the NDA ahead of the Tamil Nadu polls.

Udhayanidhi claimed that Palaniswami had backstabbed every mentor who aided his political rise, contrasting this with the DMK's record of standing up for Tamil Nadu's autonomy against the 'Delhi team.'

MK Stalin said the entry of actors like Vijay into politics will not impact the DMK, expressing confidence in the party’s electoral prospects.

The nomination of a TVK candidate from the Edappadi constituency has been rejected, and the candidate has now gone missing, with the party alleging kidnapping.

Edappadi K Palaniswami said the AIADMK would order a probe into claims that M Karunanidhi was kept under “house arrest”, invoking the DMK’s 2021 promise to investigate J. Jayalalithaa’s death while targeting CM MK Stalin.