TN exit polls: Exit Jaya, welcome MK

Point your mobile to: http://m.ibnlive.com

New Delhi: Tamil Nadu has given its verdict and it's exit time for Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

The battle for power in the state seems to have turned decisively in favour of the DMK-led alliance in the last lap with M Karunanidhi's coalition headed to record a thumping win with two-thirds majority in the 234-member House.

Interestingly, it was anybody's game in Tamil Nadu till the last hours and the battle between the alliances of the two major Dravidian parties had gone down to the wire.

A CNN-IBN-Hindu exit poll, which was conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies on Monday as the state voted in a one-day polling, showed the DMK-led alliance was going to bag somewhere between 157 to 167 seats in what seemed to be huge anti-incumbancy wave that eluded most political observers in the runup to the polls.

Apart from DMK, Karunanidhi's coalition comprises the Congress, CPI and the CPI-M.

The exit poll predicted 64-74 seats for the AIADMK coalition, which also has Vaiko's MDMK as a partner. Two to three seats are seem to be going to others.

In terms of vote share too, the DMK-led alliance showed a decisive edge with as many as 45 per cent vote share while AIADMK's vote share is projected to come down to 35 per cent.

Karunanidhi also emerged the No. 1 choice for chief ministership.

Seats Estimate
DMK+	157-167
AIADMK+	64-74
Others	2-6

After a neck-and-neck battle with the AIADMK, the veteran Dravidian leader seems to have mustered enough clout during the poll campaign which put him head and shoulder above his closest rival and outgoing Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in the leadership survey.

The exit poll showed as many as 41 per cent of those who took part in the survey mentioned Karunanidhi as their first preference to head the state.

AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa came second with 35 per cent votes while MDMK's Vijaykanth finished third with 10 per cent votes. Karunanidhi's son Stalin was fourth with one per cent votes.

Votes Projected
DMK+	45 %
AIADMK+	35 %
DMDK	10 %
Others	10%

The Jayalalithaa Government seems to have lost heavily on the approval count, with only 39 per cent voters giving her a thumbs-up for her performance in the last five years.

Popular Choice for Chief Minister
M. Karunanidhi	41%
J. Jayalalitha	35%
Vijaykant	10%
MK Stalin	1%

As many as 54 per cent of those who were polled in the survey wanted the Jayalalitha Government out and were not in favour of giving her a second chance.

Should the present Jayalalitha government be given another chance?
No	54%
Yes	39%

The rest of the voters had no opinion.

Click to play video