It's a sweep for the DMK-Congress alliance as predicted in the Lok Sabha polls, but not a total sweep in the by polls to 22 assembly seats. In fact, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh are the only three states that have resisted a BJP entry.
First, the fact that it’s a brute-majority BJP-led government in Delhi would mean that the DMK, like all other regional parties, will have no say at the Centre, despite leading the alliance to sweep in 37 of the 38 seats.
Further, the BJP has been the reason the AIADMK government has survived in Tamil Nadu, and with the BJP in power at Delhi, the DMK may find it tough to topple the ruling AIADMK government. The BJP effect is compounded by the fact that in the by elections to 22 assembly seats, at the time of writing this piece, the numbers stood at 13 for the DMK and 9 for the AIADMK. Even if the numbers go up for the DMK by 2 seats, where the fight seems eerily close, the DMK will end up only with 15 more assembly seats. At the moment the DMK, Congress and IUML have 97 seats in the 234-member house.