CHENNAI: Buoyed by its entry into the TVK-led government, and officially snapping ties with DMK, IUML is now looking to expand its organisational footprint across the state.
The party is aiming at the upcoming local body elections as the immediate launchpad, with the demand for the post of mayor, deputy mayor in corporations and president posts in town panchayats and village panchayats.
Sources close to the national high command told TNIE the plan to expand the organisation footprints beyond Kerala has been on the cards since 2025, and now the time is ripe to increase the cadre strength as the party is part of the government in Tamil Nadu.
“The expansion plan began last year when our party headquarters was moved to New Delhi. The need for a secular Muslim party was felt across the state, and winning four corporation councillor seats in Nagpur, home to the RSS headquarters, was the first milestone in our long journey. The second milestone is being part of the government in Tamil Nadu, which has always been ruled by a single party,” a national functionary said.
With regard to Tamil Nadu, the national leadership has formed a committee to restructure the party in the state, apart from pushing for the membership drive across TN.
Tiruchy South district secretary Habibur Rahman, son of IUML national president Prof KM Kader Mohideen, said that they are already receiving good response after becoming part of the state government. The TVK alliance, he said, has opened a new chapter. The party’s state-level general council meeting held on Saturday has discussed its plans to expand the base across the state among the Muslim community.
“Structurally, IUML remains strong only in Kerala. In Tamil Nadu, we have only managed to get recognition in some districts. Now, thanks to TVK, we are beginning to flourish,” Habibur Rahman said.
“We see people joining us. We want to empower our party cadre and hopefully increase our cadre strength across the state by making use of the upcoming local body polls in the state,” he added.
The party has also been building an IT Wing since its early days, and is working to revive its student wing, though the leader acknowledged the unit was not very active at present.
“We have not even touched the break-even point. Our only way forward is consolidation, from local body polls upwards. A political party must have political power. We have been struggling to build that for 50 years,” he added.