TIRUCHY: If there is a common link among Coimbatore, Virudhunagar and Ariyalur, the districts that Chief Minister MK Stalin had visited over the past two weeks, and Villupuram, which he is scheduled to visit this week, it is that these districts are among the DMK’s not-so-strong areas where the party may have to strengthen its base as it aims to win 200 of 234 seats in the 2026 assembly poll.
After completing his field inspection (kala aaivu) of government programmes in these districts, the CM may visit other districts.
The DMK chief commenced his inspection from Coimbatore, an electorally important district for the party, on November 5. The DMK had laid special focus on Coimbatore during 2024 parliamentary election as the district minister in-charge, V Senthil Balaji, was in jail and BJP state president K Annamalai was desperately seeking a victory from there.
Although DMK candidate Ganapathy Rajkumar won the seat with a margin of 1,18,000 votes, the DMK had reasons to worry as the total votes polled by BJP and AIADMK was more than that of DMK. The re-entry of Senthil Balaji into the state cabinet, however, has rekindled DMK’s hope for a resounding victory in the district, and Stalin, too, chose Coimbatore to start his outreach programme.
A large crowd gave a rousing reception to the CM, who announced a jewellery park, TIDEL park, Rs 300 crore worth Periyar Grand Library and Science Centre, among other major projects, demonstrating the DMK’s resolve to win over the people of the district.
On November 9, the CM visited Virudhunagar and announced various schemes worth Rs 603 crore including a SIPCOT at Aruppukottai to create jobs for youth. He also interacted with cracker unit workers and launched a scheme with an initial allocation of Rs 5 crore to cover the education expenses of children of victims of firecracker accidents.
In the 2024 election, Virudhunagar parliamentary constituency saw a three-cornered contest among DMK-ally Congress, AIADMK-ally DMDK, and the BJP. Congress’s Manickam Tagore won by a razor-thin margin of 4,379 votes. In the assembly segments of Thirumangalam and Aruppukottai, which falls under the Virudhunagar Lok Sabha seat, Vijayakant’s son and DMDK candidate Vijayaprabakaran bagged more votes. BJP’s candidate, actor Radhika, got significant votes.
In Ariyalur district, which the CM visited on November 15, DMK-ally VCK’s votes dipped in the Assembly segments of Jayankondam and Ariyalur though the party eventually won the Chidambaram seat. The CM laid the foundation for a Taiwanese footwear company, Dean Shoes, at the new SIPCOT Park in Jayankondam. The 1,000-crore project is expected to generate 15,000 jobs.
In every district that he had visited, Stalin gave away welfare aid to thousands of women and pointedly addressed them in meetings.
Stalin also participated in closed-door meetings with party functionaries to review their performance.
One of the female functionaries present at a meeting in Ariyalur said, “Our leader instructed us to concentrate in areas where votes dropped compared to previous elections. He also appreciated the functionaries who polled more votes.”
The CM’s next stop Villupuram is another district that has a strong PMK presence like Ariyalur. He is visiting Villupuram on November 28 and 29. In Tirukkoyilur and Ulundurpet assembly segments under Villupuram parliamentary constituency, the VCK bagged fewer votes than AIADMK.
Political analyst Tharasu Shyam said, “The CM is galvanising the party for 2026 election. The districts he visited polled lesser votes for the DMK or its alliance partners. Stalin is trying to consolidate and increase DMK’s support base.”