DMK gears up for 2021 Assembly polls, calls meeting of party functionaries

Tamil Nadu’s principal opposition, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), is gearing up for the 2021 Assembly polls. After constituting a committee to prepare the party’s manifesto, the DMK has lined up a series of meetings with district functionaries to discuss the strategy to be adopted for the crucial assembly elections.

The party has convened meetings of office-bearers of the party units at district, union, town, and area levels from October 21 in Chennai. Except Chennai, office-bearers from 32 districts have been asked to attend meetings to be held in phases.

Dividing the state into four zones – West, South, East and North – the party has allotted one day for each zone for the meetings to be chaired by DMK President M K Stalin.

The meeting was scheduled only for the West zone comprising six districts, originally AIADMK stronghold, to devise the election strategy but the party on Friday announced office bearers from other zones will also be invited for the meetings. Office-bearers from west will meet Stalin on October 21, South (Oct 23), East (Oct 27), and North (Oct 28).

“The strategy to be adopted by the DMK will be discussed at the meeting. Since they have called office bearers at all levels, this meeting assumes significance as the elections are just seven months away. We are likely to be asked about issues being faced in districts and how to reach out to the people,” a district secretary told DH on condition of anonymity.

DMK, which has been out of power in the state for 9 years now, is unwilling to take chances and has begun election work seven months before the elections. On Sunday, the party constituted an 8-member committee to prepare the election manifesto and asked inputs from people for the same.

The zone-wise meetings are also expected to ask party workers to give inputs to the manifesto committee and ensure that problems of their areas are conveyed to the panel when they visit districts. “I think the meeting will also discuss manifesto preparation. In general, it is about elections and its preparations,” a senior leader said.