Determined to continue its winning streak in the coming 2026 assembly polls, the ruling DMK has activated its election war machine by appointing observers for all 234 constituencies in Tamil Nadu.
The Dravidian major, which wrested power from the AIADMK in 2021 after a gap of 10 years, is preparing to repeat its performance to retain its grip on power. Significantly, the DMK-led alliance has not lost any election, including those for civic bodies, since the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
That the party has a well-oiled election war machine is well known and it has announced the appointment of observers for each constituency in the party’s daily paper, ‘Murasoli’. These observers are tasked with monitoring and carrying out poll-related preparations. Making the announcement, party general secretary and senior minister Duraimurugan said that the observers would oversee the setting up of booth committees and scrutinise electoral rolls by monitoring deletions and additions in each constituency.
This initiative followed the recommendation of a five-member Election Coordination panel, constituted earlier by Chief Minister and party president MK Stalin, who had urged the rank and file to put every effort to keep the DMK in power to carry out the developmental works and make it a bulwark against the authoritarian BJP-led Union government.
In the current assembly, the DMK has 133 members, while its allies account for 26 legislators. In 2024, the DMK and its allies swept the LS elections, winning all 39 constituencies in the state, as well as the lone seat in neighbouring Puducherry. With the opposition in disarray, the DMK, which has kept its allies in good humour since 2019, smells an opportunity to retain power. However, it is determined to leave no stone unturned in its efforts.