Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said on Sunday he does not expect the state's upcoming assembly election to be a close contest, arguing that a multi-cornered race would in fact favour his Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a major Dravidian political party that has governed the southern Indian state since 2021. Speaking to The Hindu during a campaign stop in Virudhunagar district, Stalin framed the April 23 poll as a straight fight between the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance and the rival All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)-led National Democratic Alliance. The election is taking shape around competing welfare pledges, with the ruling DMK promising an ₹8,000 home-appliance coupon for non-income-tax-paying homemakers, the AIADMK offering free refrigerators and monthly cash assistance to women, and smaller parties such as the Naam Tamilar Katchi proposing governance reforms including multiple state capitals to reduce Chennai's administrative dominance.