Setting an ambitious target of winning 200 seats for the DMK-led INDIA bloc in the 2026 Assembly elections, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president MK Stalin has urged party functionaries to work towards that goal immediately.

“In the coming two years, we should focus on the election. The 200-seat target is not for mere oratory on a stage. If we work diligently and without any hesitation, we can ensure a DMK government next time as well. Hence, the fieldworks should commence now,” he said, addressing the DMK District Secretaries meeting at the party headquarters, Anna Arivalayam, here on Friday.

Significantly, the issue of elevating his son and cabinet colleague Udhayanidhi Stalin as Deputy Chief Minister was not on the agenda of the meeting. “The issue of Deputy CM was not discussed at the meeting,” DMK Organisational Secretary RS Bharathi told a press briefing, putting to rest speculation about Udhayanidhi’s coronation as the number two in the government and the party.

The district secretaries are powerful satraps in their turf, and this is the first such meeting after the thumping victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in which the DMK-led alliance had a clean sweep winning all the 39 constituencies in the state and the lone seat in Puducherry. The meeting was held ahead of Stalin’s tour of the United States, scheduled for August 27.

Stalin said it is no small feat for the DMK, which lost only one seat out of 40 in the 2019 LS polls, to have won all 40 seats in 2024. This achievement, unprecedented for any party including the DMK, was made possible by the tireless efforts of functionaries and workers, he added. “The welfare programmes of the government have reached every home in the state. And it is necessary to convert them into votes,” the DMK president emphasised.

“The DMK was the first regional party in the country to capture power in 1967 and remains the only party to retain power into its 75th year. Rooted like a banyan tree, the party must continue for another 100 years, and it is our duty to carry the movement forward to the next generation,” Stalin said, providing an ideological underpinning for the DMK’s return to power. Since 1967 and 1971, the DMK has never achieved back-to-back victories. At present, the DMK’s strength in the Assembly is 133 and its allies account for 26.

Stalin’s book “Verdict of the South”, released on the occasion, documents how the party had registered a thumping victory in the 2024 LS elections.

The meeting, while thanking the Union government for releasing a coin to commemorate the birth centenary of the late DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi, condemned the neglect of the state in the Union Budget 2024.

Interestingly, a third resolution made it clear that the DMK would fight for the state’s rights while extending support for a harmonious relationship with the Union government.