CHENNAI: With the DMK securing 59 seats, down from the 133 seats it secured in 2021 elections, the party still emerged as the second-largest party, giving it the numerical standing to stake claim to the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) post.
However, the more pressing question that lingers within Anna Arivalayam (DMK headquarters) is – who would lead the Opposition. DMK chief M K Stalin, who resigned as chief minister on May 5, lost his Kolathur seat by 8,795 votes to TVK’s V S Babu, ruling him out of the Assembly floor. His son Udhayanidhi Stalin, who won the Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni seat by 7,140 votes, is the most prominent name whispered among the party workers.
Party insiders indicate that the choice of LoP will signal whether the DMK would opt for the continuity of the Stalin legacy or trigger a transition for someone from outside the family. Udhayanidhi, who served as deputy CM in the outgoing cabinet and steered the party’s youth outreach, is seen as the front-runner. If not for him, the other names doing the rounds were that of DMK leaders K N Nehru and Thangam Thennarasu.
“There are two things discussed inside the party. Since one of the main feedback given to us (following the party’s defeat in this election) was dynasty politics, the DMK is sceptical to again elect a person from the party’s first family.
But, on the other hand, by being made the LoP, he will be the face of the party in the Assembly and the narrative would be Vijay Vs Udhayanidhi which would make things easier for us in the coming election,” a senior leader in the DMK told TNIE.
DMK’s 59-strong legislative group is expected to meet in the coming days to formally elect its legislature party leader, a decision that will set the tone for how the party positions itself against the Vijay government.
Meanwhile, DMK’s deputy general secretary and MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi has written to the Speaker of Lok Sabha requesting to change the seating arrangements in the Lower House.
“In view of the changed circumstances, and as our alliance with the Congress has come to an end, it may not be appropriate for our members to continue occupying the present seating arrangement,” Kanimozhi said in a letter to the Speaker.