DMK president M.K. Stalin has instructed a 36-member committee to identify the “real reasons” behind the party’s defeat in the Assembly election. The panel has been asked to conduct a detailed, constituency-wise field study.
According to the report, the DMK won only 59 seats and failed to return to power, a result that came as a major shock to party leaders who had been confident of forming the government again.
Stalin held a consultation at Anna Arivalayam in Chennai with the committee and senior leaders. Opposition leader Udhayanidhi Stalin, deputy general secretaries Kanimozhi, Raja and Ponmudi, and organisation secretary R.S. Bharathi were among those who attended.
Party functionaries quoted Stalin as saying that despite what he described as five years of good governance, welfare schemes such as the women’s entitlement assistance, and infrastructure initiatives, the party had lost to a new political outfit. He noted that defeats in expected strongholds including Chennai city and suburbs, Madurai, Thoothukudi and Tiruchirappalli were surprising.
The committee has been asked to speak openly with party functionaries and the public, especially youth, to understand whether young people and women voted due to attraction towards actor-politician Vijay or for other reasons, and to pinpoint where the party failed to win the confidence of the younger generation.
