Chennai, March 15 The ruling DMK of Tamil Nadu, the main opposition AIADMK, and other political parties welcomed the announcement of the election schedule by the Election Commission on Sunday and expressed confidence in winning the April 23 polls.
Since DMK president M.K. Stalin assumed office as Chief Minister, his focus has been solely on the well-being of the people, and the government's welfare schemes are being emulated across the country, said party office-bearer Salem Dharanidharan.
Preparations for the polls actually began from the day Stalin assumed office as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. "The DMK will secure a resounding victory in the polls… it will be a landslide, winning more than 200 out of the 234 seats," he said.
AIADMK spokesperson Kovai Sathyan said, "Our party chief Edappadi K Palaniswami has already campaigned in nearly 200 constituencies. We are ready to face the polls even tomorrow, and whenever they are held, we will win."
"The people are with the AIADMK," he said, and expressed confidence that his party and its allies would secure a resounding victory and form the next government in Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK heads the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), and its constituents include the BJP, AMMK, and PMK.
BJP leader Narayanan Thirupathy said, "We are ready to face the elections, and the people are prepared to vote for the NDA to dislodge the DMK government."
Listing several issues, including alleged deterioration in law and order and a rise in crime, he expressed confidence that the AIADMK-BJP combine would win the polls.
Congress senior leader P. Chidambaram welcomed the poll announcement.
"I welcome the announcement that elections will be held in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, and Tamil Nadu in one phase, and that elections will be held in West Bengal in two phases. I am glad that the number of phases has been compressed to one or two phases," he said in a social media post.