TIRUCHY: Aiming to wrest back Tiruchy parliamentary constituency, and having snapped ties with the BJP as well, the state’s principal opposition party, the AIADMK, is training its guns on the “failures” of the government—both at the state and central level—to cash in on the “anti-incumbency” sentiment and win votes in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Dismissing claims of the DMK not tasting defeat in Tiruchy as a "myth," C Muthukumar, a ward secretary of the AIADMK, said, “In the ground level, we can see anti-incumbency prevailing. We are consolidating a list of people on every street who are unsatisfied with the DMK rule due to persisting local issues. Our campaign will be fully focused on that. Our groundwork under way is not only for the parliamentary elections but also for the Assembly elections in 2026.”
Sai Suresh Kumar, a member of the party’s IT wing, said, “More than 800 booth committees have been formed with 72 members per booth. The committee includes three IT wing functionaries under the branch secretary. They will collect information on local issues and play them up on social media platforms as well as in street campaigns.”
Pointing to a proposed campaign, ‘Kandaa Vara Sollunga', another IT wing member with the AIADMK said, "Tiruchy constituency will soon witness a huge poster campaign against incumbent MP Su Thirunavukkarasar, who was nowhere to be seen in the last five years."
Calling these the “best strategy” to consolidate anti-incumbency votes, Duraikannu Sannasi, a branch secretary of the AIADMK, said, “Our aim is to capture 200 to 300 new votes per booth, which will make a huge difference in the results.”
Commenting on party strategy, another functionary in Tiruverumbur said, "In our constituency, people are dissatisfied with Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi. Despite his ties with Udhayanidhi Stalin, he has not implemented any megaprojects in his constituency. Even other DMK cadres are unhappy with his administrative skills. As a party, we will focus on this and bag more votes in the constituency."
On the strategy to win the votes of religious minorities, a district-level AIADMK member said, "We faced backlash while campaigning last time as we were then with the BJP. Now we are free. We even held a protest condemning the Union government over a toll plaza in Tiruchy. In this SDPI and several minority outfits also participated. Many pastors of independent churches, too, express willingness to support us as we are not with the BJP."
On the claims of the BJP that its alliance has a stronghold in the Tiruchy constituency due to the splits within the AIADMK, he said, "More than anyone, we know the BJP's weaknesses. The BJP is only setting a narrative here. Nobody is actually there on the ground to work for them."
Meanwhile, AIADMK’s south district secretary and former MP P Kumar told TNIE that he was going to apply for the party ticket in the Tiruchy constituency.
The party high command has entrusted three Assembly constituencies—Lalgudi, Tiruverumbur and Manapparai—with me, he said, and expressed hope of winning the general elections.