Senior DMK functionaries and spokespersons have expressed dissatisfaction with the party leadership, alleging that it has not learned lessons even after the party’s defeat in the Assembly election.
According to party sources, DMK president M.K. Stalin has formed “field study” teams to analyse the reasons for the loss. As part of this exercise, he held a meeting with 23 party spokespersons at the party headquarters, Anna Arivalayam.
Some spokespersons said they attended the meeting expecting a meaningful discussion with Stalin and Udhayanidhi Stalin, noting that they had not been consulted during the previous five years in power. However, they claimed Stalin read out a prepared note written by an aide, and that their inputs were not listened to with attention.
They also pointed to interruptions during discussions on action plans, including a debate on the need for “ground-level politics”. The spokespersons further alleged that the leadership focused on lessons about handling print and television media, and that the party has again assigned key coordination roles and media-panel decisions to the same individuals who handled similar work earlier.
The spokespersons said even basic follow-up steps, such as forming a WhatsApp group for coordination, had not been done, and argued that the party should prioritise connecting with people rather than merely managing media narratives.
