TIRUCHY: The DMK, whose leaders are known for their ‘gift of the gab’, seems to be upping its game as the party has handpicked and groomed 182 young orators to campaign for the party in the 2026 Assembly elections. These speakers have been selected after multi-level competitions and training camps from a total of 17,000 aspirants.
Since its initial days, DMK grew in Tamil soil through its leaders’ speeches and writings. Many of its leaders were fiery orators who could captivate the masses through their literary and emotional oration. DMK founder CN Annadurai described EVR Periyar’s public meetings as “Tamil Nadu’s first evening colleges”. Late DMK leader K Anbazhagan, in a book, equated ‘speech’ to ‘service’ (thondu).
To reclaim the party’s peerless distinction in public speaking, DMK president and Chief Minister M K Stalin tasked deputy CM and youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin to infuse fresh blood into the art by identifying 100 young orators. Since last June, DMK youth wing functionaries have been reaching out to colleges for their Kalaignar Karunanidhi centenary speech competition titled “En Uyrinum Melana” -- the Tamil words with which the late Dravidian leader used to begin his speeches.
DMK youth wing state deputy secretary S Joel said 85 judges selected 913 orators at the district-level. The shortlisted contestants attended training camps that featured classes from Dravidian ideologues and renowned orators, and received books to read, he said. The 913 contestants received a cash prize of Rs 10,000 each from the respective district secretaries.
After the training camps, regional-level contests were held and 182 orators were selected for the state-level competition held on October 26 in Chennai. The next day, Stalin distributed cash prizes to the top three orators.
Nanjil Sampath, a popular orator, said, “As far as I know, no political party in India has organised an orator selection of this size in one go. At a time, when public stage speaking in Tamil is facing a crisis, DMK has rejuvenated it with a force of 182 speakers, providing them the status of headquarters orators. I am sure these orators will play a significant role in DMK’s win in 2026 elections.”
These orators would propagate the Dravidian ideology, principles and the DMK government’s achievements in public meetings. M Mohanethi, who won the first prize, said he has already spoken in five public meetings. The 23-year-old is a junior lawyer at the Madras High Court. Viyani Vishva (24) of Thanjavur, who won the third prize, has spoken in six meetings. Handbooks with the contact details of these 182 orators have been distributed to the party’s district functionaries, who will be arranging public meetings featuring their speeches.