Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Getting ready for the Lok Sabha elections, Tamil Nadu’s ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Friday constituted committees to hold seat-sharing talks with alliance partners, prepare the manifesto, and coordinate election work - with Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Udhayanidhi Stalin, and P T R Palanivel Thiaga Rajan getting different responsibilities.
While Udhayanidhi is a member of the election coordination committee that will manage the campaign among other issues, Kanimozhi will head the 11-member manifesto committee in which Thiaga Rajan is a member along with young leaders like R Priya (Chennai Mayor), C V M P Ezhilarasan (students’ wing secretary), and Ezhilan Naganathan (MLA).
Party treasurer and Parliamentary party chief T R Baalu will head the panel that will decide the seat-sharing arrangement with alliance partners and hold talks with the parties. Former Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy, who was disqualified as an MLA after he was convicted in a corruption case by the Madras High Court, ministers K N Nehru, I Periyasamy, and M R K Panneerselvam and MPs, A Raja, and Tiruchi Siva, are members of the panel.
“The work for Election 2024 has begun. Let us complete the task and emerge victorious. I.N.D.I.A. will win,” DMK President M K Stalin wrote on X. Party leaders told DH that the constitution of three committees shows the importance that the DMK attaches to the Lok Sabha elections in which it has set an ambitious target of all 40 seats, including one in Puducherry.
“The committees will start their work very soon because there is not much time for the elections. Booth committees have been strengthened and cadres have already begun work on the ground. This is a very crucial election for the party,” a senior DMK leader said.
The election coordination committee consists of K N Nehru, R S Bharathi, PWD Minister E V Velu, Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu, and Udhay, the Sports Minister. “The state will be divided into five or six zones and each of them will be made in-charge of one zone. Udhay is likely to be made in charge of western Tamil Nadu where the DMK didn’t perform well in 2021 assembly elections,” another party leader told DH.
DMK had in 2019 allotted 10 seats to Congress, two each to Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), CPI (M), and CPI, and one each to IUML, KMDK, and IJK, while it contested in 21 seats. The DMK is likely to invite Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) into the alliance very soon.
The manifesto committee has 10 members besides Kanimozhi, who is also the party's deputy general secretary. The inclusion of Thiaga Rajan, whose portfolio was changed from Finance to IT in May 2023 following surfacing of an audio tape, is significant as it was perceived that he was sidelined in the DMK.
Kanimozhi heading the manifesto committee also signifies the importance that Stalin attaches to her – the Thoothukudi MP will hoist the DMK flag at the Youth Wing conference in Salem on Saturday. The constitution of the committees comes close on the heels of Stalin scotching speculation that his son Udhayanidhi will be made his deputy in the government.