CM Stalin to unveil DMK strategy for 2026 Assembly polls on June 1

Chennai, May 8 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M.K. Stalin has called on party cadres to prioritise election work in the coming year, urging them to actively gear up for the 2026 Assembly polls.

CM Stalin informed party functionaries that a comprehensive election working plan will be presented at the DMK’s general council meeting scheduled for June 1 in Madurai.

The Chief Minister emphasised the need for widespread grassroots engagement, calling for the participation of booth-level agents and committee members in the 1,244 public meetings planned across the state. These meetings aim to equip functionaries with data-driven narratives showcasing the achievements of the DMK government, enabling them to effectively communicate these to every voter.

The CM also urged cadres to remain active on social media, particularly through WhatsApp groups, and to circulate content disseminated by the party’s IT wing and other communication channels to strengthen voter outreach.

With an ambitious target of securing 200 out of the 234 Assembly seats in the 2026 elections, CM Stalin has tasked full-time party in-charges in each Assembly constituency with intensifying promotion of the government’s welfare schemes. These representatives report directly to the party’s election cell, headquartered at Anna Arivalayam, the DMK’s state office. The election cell is led by Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, who also heads the party’s youth wing, and includes senior leaders such as Organising Secretary R.S. Bharathy and Ministers Thangam Thenarasu, E.V. Velu, and K.N. Nehru.

The full-timers are responsible for directly engaging with the public to highlight the transformative impact of government initiatives.

Since assuming office in May 2021, the DMK government has launched several flagship welfare schemes. These include free bus travel for women; the “Pudhumai Penn” scheme, which provides Rs 1,000 monthly financial assistance to girl students from government schools pursuing higher education; and its extension to boys under the “Tamizh Pudhalvan” scheme.

Other key initiatives include the Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme, offering nutritious meals to government school students from Classes I to 5; the upgrading of 25 higher secondary schools into “Schools of Excellence” with a Rs 150 crore investment; and the establishment of 708 Urban Health Centers across 21 municipal corporations and 63 municipalities to strengthen urban healthcare access.

The “Kalaignar Women’s Honorarium” provides financial assistance to women from marginalised communities, promoting gender equality and economic empowerment.

The “Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam” scheme delivers healthcare services directly to homes, focusing on early detection and treatment of non-communicable diseases, especially for people over 45 and those with limited mobility. Additionally, the “Naan Mudhalvan” initiative, launched in March 2022, seeks to skill 10 lakh youth annually, offering career guidance, spoken English coaching, and training in coding and robotics.

Party sources revealed that daily reports are collected from constituency in-charges to track public responses to these schemes. Every three days, Udhayanidhi Stalin’s team reviews the data and gathers feedback with the assistance of a professional analytics team.

--IANS

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