With counting underway for the 2019 Assembly Elections, Tamil Nadu is all set for a make-or-break political situation. The two major Dravidian parties - the DMK and the incumbent AIADMK - are on their last leg this election.
J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi, the leaders of both parties, are dead. With the last of the old guard now dead, this is the final face-off for the old bastions of Dravidian thought.
Here are the top three news headlines in Tamil newspapers this morning.
Dinamalar Says ‘Dhik... Dhik...’ For the Tension
Dinamalar is one of the largest dailies in Tamil Nadu, with a subscriber base of over nine lakh across Tamil Nadu. The headlines mimic a heartbeat, to imply rising tension among the people of the nation about which party will form the government at the end of the day.
In addition to a form of open-ended editorial on the BJP and the Congress’ Mahagatbandhan, the front page also displays a collation of exit polls, almost all of which point to a BJP victory. In other news, over 88 IAS officers have been appointed to monitor and manage the counting process.
The bottom left also features a report on the importance of the by-elections for 22 constituencies in TN. Incidentally, it was on this day, May 23rd, in 2016, that J Jayalalithaa took oath as CM for the last time. Will the AIADMK reclaim the legacy this year?
Dinamani’s Election Explainer: Who Will Form the Govt at the Centre?
Dinamani, the Tamil broadsheet of The New Indian Express Group has put out an explainer on the assembly elections, answering FAQs like when counting would begin, details on security at counting centres, prominent politicians in the fray and the big question: Will the exit polls come true?
A detailed report on the by-elections too has been featured.
Nevertheless, like other news dailies in the state, it is silent on which way the by-elections will swing. This is because the main focus has been on the assembly elections. Nevertheless, it will be the by-polls that will decide the fate of the incumbent AIADMK government.
Hindu Tamil Goes the Factoid Way: Counting Begin at 8 am
Hindu Tamil focuses on the counting process, and recounts the various phases of the elections that began on 11 April and came to an end on 19 May. An interesting factoid is that of the 7,928 contestants across the country, only 724 are women.
A separate report speaks of potential violence likely during the counting process today. It is for this reason that over 10,000 policemen have been deployed across the counting centres in the state, to ensure a safe and incident-free counting process.
Interestingly, there is no mention of the by-polls on page one of the newspaper.
All of the exit polls pointing to a DMK victory in the assembly polls, and and AIADMK edge in the by-polls.
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