The Tamil Nadu elections started off as a one-sided affair. The DMK-Congress alliance began as a sure winner, adding the CPI, CPI (M), Viduthalai Siruthai (VCK), Vaiko’s MDMK and others to their rainbow alliance. With the alliance partners given a fair share of seats, the victory should have been easy and certain.
Add to this rainbow alliance, the double anti-incumbency of Modi and Palaniswami, and it should have been a walkover. Moreover, in Tamil Nadu, there has been a sustained anti-Modi campaign in media and in the public sphere, and since the BJP was not able to counter the same, one thought that the die was cast. The ‘Balakot bump’ was too muted to be felt or heard.