DMK begins work on 2024 polls, strengthens booth committees

Buoyed by successive electoral victories and to face BJP’s challenge, the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has begun work on the 2024 Parliamentary elections by setting eyes on winning all the 39 constituencies in Tamil Nadu. The party hopes a landslide win will possibly catapult party chief M K Stalin to the position of a “kingmaker” in national politics.

With Stalin making it clear multiple times that the “secular alliance” helmed by the party will continue for the 2024 polls and allies too endorsing his statement, DMK functionaries are currently in the process of finding ways to strengthen booth committees across the state and launch an “informal” campaign in the next few months.

Stalin has also given clear hints that he won’t dump Congress, despite him being courted by regional satraps like Mamata Banerjee, and K Chandrashekar Rao. Political observers said it is also the BJP’s massive push in Tamil Nadu that has prompted Stalin to start preparing for the elections which are at least 18 months away from now.

Also Read | OPS calls for “unity” among AIADMK factions; EPS says no reproachment

After continuous defeats since 2011, the DMK tasted victory for the first time in 2019 Lok Sabha polls following which it came back to power in TN after a decade in 2021 Assembly elections.

It was none other than Stalin who set the ambitious target of winning all the 39 seats at stake while addressing a grand public meeting in Virudhunagar in September. And Tamil Nadu has had a history of swinging one side in general elections with the winning alliance romping home by decimating the rival – in 2004, the DMK alliance won all 39 seats that fueled the UPA-I regime anchored by Congress.

“The party believes that 2024 is a very crucial election, more so because the DMK is governing the state. Any setback in this election will create a negative perception of the state government. So, we are taking the LS polls quite seriously and are working on several strategies to win over the people for the third consecutive election,” a senior DMK leader told DH.

Prof. Ramu Manivannan, who taught history at the University of Madras, said though the DMK may not admit it publicly, it is the BJP’s increasing presence in Tamil Nadu that is pushing the party to be proactive.

“BJP has multiplied its strengths and resources in Tamil Nadu and obviously DMK has to rise to the occasion and keep its election machinery well-oiled. In other words, DMK has to change gears and with the AIADMK’s support base slowly eroding, BJP is trying to make itself heard louder than ever,” Manivannan added.

Strengthening booth committees, the leader added, is the key to achieving the goal of 39/39 and district secretaries have been asked to conduct regular meetings at the booth, town, and block levels to ensure that things are “moving as per the plan.”

“Our party chief M K Stalin himself interacted with some of the booth committee members and the work is in full swing. And the members are being asked to reach out to people in their booths and explain the welfare measures of the DMK government. We believe this strategy will work more than anything else,” another leader said.

The second leader added that the party is also planning to reach out to maximum number of women, who are the “biggest beneficiaries” of welfare schemes of the current government.

The first leader said: “DMK has played the role of a kingmaker at the Centre in the past and we hope Stalin has the capability to decide the next PM. To catapult him to that capacity, the DMK and its alliance partners have to win maximum seats. We want to see the DMK attaining national limelight yet again.”