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Poll survey

This refers to the findings of The Hindu -CNN-IBN poll conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies on the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections (April 14). One finding says Mr. Vaiko's MDMK is not very successful at retaining its vote share of 2004 and that it brings much less to the alliance than Ms. Jayalalithaa may have hoped for. Not all the votes polled by the MDMK in the 2004 parliamentary elections were its own. With the party switching sides, and the other allies staying with the DMK-led alliance, it is only reasonable to expect a substantial number of those who voted for the MDMK in the last elections to vote for the DMK alliance. Yet the fact that the MDMK is able to transfer 45 per cent of its votes polled in 2004 to the AIADMK-led alliance is significant. This is definitely going to be an asset to the alliance, especially in a closely fought election.

The observation that Mr. Vaiko's own rating in the Chief Ministerial popularity stakes is much below expectations is irrelevant. He is not in the race — he is not even a candidate in the elections.

N. Damotharan,
Tiruchi, T.N.

It is clear from the findings that no single party is likely to get a majority. The AIADMK's two percentage point lead is also well within the margin of error. Yet some sections of the media have manipulated them saying the AIADMK-led alliance is all set to win. This is disturbing and unfortunate.

M. Paramasivan,
Chennai

In the five years since the last Assembly elections, a lot of changes have taken place. Since The Hindu-CNN-IBN findings have come much ahead of the elections, the people have a chance to think well before going to vote. They should ensure that there is no hung Assembly. Tamil Nadu needs a stable government.

E. Sivasankaran,
Coimbatore

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