Stalin to micromanage DMK election campaign in western Tamil Nadu

Chennai Mar 14 (IANS) The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which is leading INDIA bloc in Tamil Nadu, has decided that the son of Chief Minister M. K. Stalin, Udhayanidhi Stalin will micromanage campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in western Tamil Nadu, which is an AIADMK bastion.

Sources in DMK told IANS that Udhayanidhi will concentrate fully in western Tamil Nadu as in the 2021 assembly elections, despite the DMK sweep, AIADMK won convincingly from this region.

In the 2021 assembly elections, the AIADMK-led NDA alliance won 33 seats out of 50. The DMK alliance had to settle for 17 seats despite the sweep in central and northern Tamil Nadu. The landslide victory of AIADMK candidates from the western region, even after ten years in power (from 2011 to 2021) and without the presence of a towering leader, is a clear message of its strength at the grassroots.

DMK is giving charge to Udhayanidhi Stalin in a bid to control the AIADMK surge and to win seats in western Tamil Nadu at any cost. Also, AIADMK supremo, Edappadi K. Palaniswami hails from this region and belongs to Edappadi in Salem district.

Another factor worrying DMK is the tall claims made by BJP that it would capture Coimbatore Lok Sabha seat and a powerful leader like K. Annamalai would contest from there. DMK has, due to this factor, taken over the Coimbatore seat from CPI-M and handed over a comfortable Dindigul seat to the Left party.

Udhayanidhi, according to DMK, is an acceptable face among the party cadres and the party youth wing and hence, his presence in the western regions of Tamil Nadu would lead to an acceleration in the party's grassroot work.

Another factor which is giving Udhayanidhi an edge is his understanding of grassroot issues in the concerned region. With him in charge of western Tamil Nadu, a direct fight will take place with AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami.