New Delhi: Pradeep Gupta, Axis My India Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) on Friday said that Tamil Nadu holds enough significance in the 2024 General Elections and has even surpassed the states with high number of Lok Sabha seats.
In an exclusive interview to IANS, Pradeep Gupta said that 39 seats of Tamil Nadu and 1 seat of Puducherry which went to polls on Friday are drawing the attention of all including people, analysts and pollsters because of high-stakes battle in the Southern state.
Notably, under the first phase of elections on Friday, polling took place in 102 LS constituencies across 21 states and union territories. It is also the phase with biggest number of seats, going to polls.
The leading election analyst opined that out of 102 constituencies, 40 seats of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry are more important than that of Uttar Pradesh.
He said that Uttar Pradesh with 80 LS seats alone, remains the most high-profile state in every election but this time, Tamil Nadu has surpassed it, owing to high-decibel election campaigns and political tie-ups by DMK and BJP in a bid to gain the ‘upper hand’ in the state.
He said that Tamil Nadu remains a major battleground for INDIA bloc too as it seeks to sweep the state much like last time but faces uphill task this time, in wake of mounting challenge by the BJP-led allies.
In 2019 Parliamentary elections, DMK swept the state by winning 38 out of 39 seats while AIADMK fetched just 1 seat.
AIADMK was part of NDA alliance last time but this time no such coalition exists. For 2024 polls, BJP has aligned with smaller parties in the state.
Pradeep Gupta told IANS that Tamil Nadu, is no longer a non-talked about state, rather it is dominating the national discourse because of high-stakes political battle.
Explaining the nature of politics in state, he said that Tamil Nadu has always alternated between DMK and AIADMK but this time, it is unlikely to lean and tilt towards any particular party.
He concurred with the fact that BJP’s election machinery is in top gear in Tamil Nadu and the promotion of Tamil legacy on the global stage under Modi government will have an impact in the elections.
–IANS