Chennai, May 19: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has cautioned the Vijay-led TVK government against seeking the support of a faction of AIADMK legislators, stating that such a move would force the party to reconsider its backing to the government.

Addressing reporters at Tiruthuraipoondi on Tuesday, CPI(M) State secretary P. Shanmugam said the people of Tamil Nadu had delivered a verdict against both the DMK and the AIADMK, and any attempt by the TVK government to rely on support from an AIADMK faction would go against the public mandate.

He said such a political arrangement would also contradict TVK’s promise of providing clean and transparent governance.

Mr. Shanmugam expressed hope that TVK would not enter into any alliance or understanding with the AIADMK. However, he said the CPI(M) would be compelled to review its support to the government if such a decision was taken.

Explaining the party’s decision to support the TVK government, the CPI(M) leader said Tamil Nadu was not prepared for another round of elections. He also stated that the party did not want the BJP to gain entry into the State through the imposition of Governor’s rule.

He said these considerations had prompted the CPI(M) to extend support to the TVK government.

Amaravati, May 6: In what has emerged as one of the most remarkable electoral coincidences in recent Tamil Nadu political history, a DMK Minister has lost the Tirupattur Assembly constituency by a single vote — the precise margin that the BJP's election incharge for the segment had repeatedly predicted months before polling day.

Kokker Srinivas, a BJP leader from Andhra Pradesh appointed by the party's national leadership as election incharge for the Tirupattur Assembly constituency, had taken up residence in the segment from March 6 onwards, conducting an intensive campaign across all seven mandals of the constituency for 45 consecutive days until April 25.

Throughout this period, Srinivas consistently emphasised a single, unwavering message to party workers, booth-level functionaries, and allied party cadres alike: that one vote could alter political destiny.

"One vote changes political fate," he told gatherings across the constituency. "One vote decides victory. This one vote can change history." The message was repeated not merely as a rhetorical device, but as a strategic directive — workers were mobilised with the explicit understanding that no vote could be treated as inconsequential.

The same message was carried to meetings of the National Democratic Alliance partners in the constituency, including the AIADMK and the AMMK, where Srinivas elaborated the point with historical examples of razor-thin electoral outcomes.

When results came, the words acquired new weight

When votes were counted on May 4, the outcome at Tirupattur confounded observers across the political spectrum. The TVK candidate prevailed over the sitting DMK Minister by a margin of exactly one vote — a result described by election analysts as virtually without precedent in Tamil Nadu's electoral history.

The coincidence was not lost on BJP workers who had sat through those pre-election meetings.

"When he said it then, we took it as motivational talk," admitted a senior BJP functionary in Tirupattur. "But he said it so clearly, so many times — only now do we realise the full significance of what he was telling us."

A question of political foresight

The episode has since sparked considerable discussion across party lines in Tirupattur and beyond — not merely about the extraordinary result itself, but about the degree to which the BJP's national apparatus had assessed ground realities in the constituency with precision.

Whether the repeated emphasis on a single-vote margin reflected a precise reading of the constituency's electoral arithmetic, or whether it was a general motivational strategy that happened to align with an extraordinary outcome, remains a matter of conjecture. What is beyond dispute, however, is that the phrase "one vote" has acquired an entirely new resonance in Tirupattur's political lexicon.

The result has drawn wide coverage across print and electronic media, with analysts examining both the mechanics of the recount process and the broader implications of such a narrow verdict in a constituency where a Cabinet Minister was the incumbent.

For the BJP, whose candidate was not the eventual winner, the episode has nonetheless provided an unexpected moment of political vindication — the party's meticulous booth-level mobilisation and the incharge's insistent messaging are now being cited within its ranks as evidence of sound ground-level intelligence.

The Tirupattur constituency result is currently under scrutiny, with legal and procedural processes expected to follow given the unprecedented margin.

Tamil Nadu: Leaders and workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party, AIADMK, AMMK, and PMK came together on Tuesday for a major joint meeting in the Tirupattur assembly constituency in support of BJP candidate KC Thirumaran, signalling a united front as the campaign enters its final stretch. Workers drawn from various mandals across the constituency participated in the gathering and deliberated on poll strategy.

Alliance Unity the Cornerstone

Addressing the meeting, BJP Tirupattur assembly election in-charge Kokkera Srinivas Yadav said the solidarity among alliance partners was the most decisive factor in the party's favour. He noted that public support for KC Thirumaran was visibly growing, and expressed firm confidence that the BJP-led alliance would secure a decisive majority in the constituency.

Development and Clean Governance on the Agenda

Srinivas Yadav said the alliance parties were united in their commitment to delivering development and transparent governance to the people. He urged workers at the grassroots level to coordinate their efforts and ensure that every voter in the constituency was reached before polling day.

Ground Push in Final Lap

Leaders at the meeting resolved to intensify the campaign with renewed vigour in the days remaining. Srinivas Yadav reaffirmed that with the combined strength of the alliance, a BJP victory in Tirupattur was well within reach, calling on cadres to redouble their outreach across every village and ward.

SIVAGANGA, March 31: Senior leaders of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) convened a strategic meeting at the AIADMK district office here on Monday, as part of the alliance's coordinated groundwork ahead of the Tamil Nadu assembly elections, with focus on the Tiruppattur constituency, which has been allocated to the Desiya Jana Nayaga Katchi (DJNK) under the NDA's seat-sharing framework with the BJP.

The visiting delegation called on Senthil Nathan, one of the most prominent faces of the AIADMK in the Sivaganga belt. A former Member of Parliament and the sitting AIADMK legislator from Sivaganga, Senthil Nathan currently holds the office of District Secretary of the Sivaganga unit of the AIADMK — widely regarded as the highest organisational responsibility at the district level within the party. He has been fielded as the NDA's candidate from Sivaganga constituency in the forthcoming election. The Tiruppattur assembly segment falls within the Sivaganga district.

The discussions, described as extensive and wide-ranging, centred on the practical challenges of consolidating alliance votes behind the BJP's electoral symbol in Tiruppattur, strategies for effective vote polarisation, and the drawing up of a detailed, booth-level campaign blueprint for the constituency.

The meeting concluded on a note of cordiality. Senthil Nathan honoured the visiting delegation with traditional shawls, a gesture that was reciprocated in equal measure.

Among those present were Kokkera Srinivas Yadav, Election In-charge for the Tiruppattur assembly constituency under the Madurai Zone; Ganesan, District General Secretary and Assembly In-charge; and Raman, Convener of the State Sainik Cell, along with other functionaries.

The meeting is being seen within NDA circles as part of a broader effort to ensure seamless coordination between alliance partners on the ground, well ahead of the formal campaign period.