<p>Chennai: DMK leader <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/elections/tamil-nadu/dh-interview-tamil-nadu-assembly-elections-2026-we-wont-let-systemic-homogenisation-erase-our-linguistic-identity-says-kanimozhi-karunanidhi-3977025">Kanimozhi Karunanidhi </a>on Tuesday wondered whether the time has come to think if the party needs an alliance to fight elections, while asking cadres to strengthen “ourselves” for facing the future. She made the comments at a meeting called to discuss the party’s performance in the recently concluded assembly elections in Thoothukudi district. </p><p>Kanimozhi, the party’s prominent woman face, also asked cadres to voice their opinion without fear on why the DMK faced an upset defeat in the April 23 assembly elections, which saw the Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) led by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay storming to power. </p><p>The Lok Sabha MP from Thoothukudi said she was not able to digest the defeat of her colleague Geetha Jeevan from the port city just like her brother M K Stalin’s shocking loss from Kolathur in Chennai. While asking cadres not to lose their heart over the assembly election loss, Kanimozhi told them they should be prepared to fight upcoming elections, while suggesting that there could be snap polls for the Tamil Nadu Assembly given the TVK government is surviving on a wafer-thin majority. </p>.Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections 2026 | Explained: Why DMK made a U-turn after toying with the idea of supporting AIADMK?.<p>“Our cadres used to tell me that we should contest some constituencies instead of allotting them to alliance partners. I would ask in lighter vein whether they don’t need an alliance. Time has come for us to think whether we need alliances in the future. We have to strengthen ourselves to face (elections alone),” she said. </p><p>Kanimozhi’s comments are significant as they come close on the heels of all alliance partners of the DMK leaving the alliance to support the TVK dispensation. While Congress broke the alliance immediately after elections, the Left parties, VCK, and IUML held elaborate discussions with the DMK before declaring their support to Vijay becoming the Chief Minister. </p><p>The Secular Progressive Alliance led by DMK was stitched together in 2018 and it faced first elections in 2019 and won every successive election till 2024 before suffering a defeat in 2026 elections. Stalin had termed the alliance as “ideological, not electoral” multiple times but was defeated by the TVK juggernaut. </p><p>Kanimozhi also asked the party cadres not to worry about the defeat and asked them to learn lessons from late patriarch M Karunanidhi who kept the party alive when it was not in power. </p><p>“No one could digest the defeat of our President (Stalin). But he displayed his spirit by going to Kolathur the next day, leaving people in tears. Likewise, I am not able to accept the defeat of Geetha Jeevan,” Kanimozhi added. </p>
<p>Chennai: DMK leader <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/elections/tamil-nadu/dh-interview-tamil-nadu-assembly-elections-2026-we-wont-let-systemic-homogenisation-erase-our-linguistic-identity-says-kanimozhi-karunanidhi-3977025">Kanimozhi Karunanidhi </a>on Tuesday wondered whether the time has come to think if the party needs an alliance to fight elections, while asking cadres to strengthen “ourselves” for facing the future. She made the comments at a meeting called to discuss the party’s performance in the recently concluded assembly elections in Thoothukudi district. </p><p>Kanimozhi, the party’s prominent woman face, also asked cadres to voice their opinion without fear on why the DMK faced an upset defeat in the April 23 assembly elections, which saw the Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) led by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay storming to power. </p><p>The Lok Sabha MP from Thoothukudi said she was not able to digest the defeat of her colleague Geetha Jeevan from the port city just like her brother M K Stalin’s shocking loss from Kolathur in Chennai. While asking cadres not to lose their heart over the assembly election loss, Kanimozhi told them they should be prepared to fight upcoming elections, while suggesting that there could be snap polls for the Tamil Nadu Assembly given the TVK government is surviving on a wafer-thin majority. </p>.Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections 2026 | Explained: Why DMK made a U-turn after toying with the idea of supporting AIADMK?.<p>“Our cadres used to tell me that we should contest some constituencies instead of allotting them to alliance partners. I would ask in lighter vein whether they don’t need an alliance. Time has come for us to think whether we need alliances in the future. We have to strengthen ourselves to face (elections alone),” she said. </p><p>Kanimozhi’s comments are significant as they come close on the heels of all alliance partners of the DMK leaving the alliance to support the TVK dispensation. While Congress broke the alliance immediately after elections, the Left parties, VCK, and IUML held elaborate discussions with the DMK before declaring their support to Vijay becoming the Chief Minister. </p><p>The Secular Progressive Alliance led by DMK was stitched together in 2018 and it faced first elections in 2019 and won every successive election till 2024 before suffering a defeat in 2026 elections. Stalin had termed the alliance as “ideological, not electoral” multiple times but was defeated by the TVK juggernaut. </p><p>Kanimozhi also asked the party cadres not to worry about the defeat and asked them to learn lessons from late patriarch M Karunanidhi who kept the party alive when it was not in power. </p><p>“No one could digest the defeat of our President (Stalin). But he displayed his spirit by going to Kolathur the next day, leaving people in tears. Likewise, I am not able to accept the defeat of Geetha Jeevan,” Kanimozhi added. </p>