Western Tamil Nadu remains an AIADMK fortress

Vanathi wrests Coimbatore South

In his first media interview in the run up to the Assembly election, DMK president M.K. Stalin had told The Hindu that west Tamil Nadu will no longer be the fortress of the AIADMK. However, on Sunday as results of the Assembly elections trickled in, the voters proved him wrong. As per late-night trends, the AIADMK had won or established leads in 31 of the 57 seats across eight districts in its bastion. The DMK was ahead in more than 10 seats and had won Bargur and Coonoor. In the 2016 Assembly elections, the AIADMK had won 45 of these seats helping it form the government. The DMK had then won 10 and the Congress two. Notably this time, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and the Ministers from the region, barring V. Saroja (Rasipuram), have retained their seats, despite some of them having been specific targets of the campaign by the DMK, its allies and other rival parties.