CHENNAI: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami will be launching his much-awaited statewide tour to meet the people ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections, from Coimbatore on July 7. He will be winding up the first phase of the visit on July 21 in Thanjavur.
Unfazed by the fresh bout of speculation triggered by the remark of Union Home Minister Amit Shah that there would be a coalition government in Tamil Nadu after the 2026 Assembly elections, Palaniswami announced the schedule for his statewide visit.
The statewide tour is titled as Makkalai Kappom; Thamizhagathai Meetpom (Let us protect the people and reclaim Tamil Nadu). Palaniswami will be visiting all 234 Assembly constituencies in this tour. As a prelude to this visit, on Thursday Palaniswami also declared his first electoral promise to the people that he would restore peace, prosperity, development, and the rights of the state, “which have been lost due to the DMK”, in 2026.
During the general council meeting of the AIADMK on December 15 last year, Palaniswami announced that he would launch his statewide tour from January this year to ‘expose the DMK government’s failures’. However, the visit got delayed. On June 24 and 25, during his interactions with the party’s district secretaries, Palaniswami shared his plan to launch his statewide tour just after the office-bearers complete the task of strengthening the booth committees.
Already, DMK president and Chief Minister MK Stalin has been visiting many districts to inaugurate completed developmental works and lay the foundation for new projects, apart from holding roadshows without fail to meet the people. Besides, TVK president and actor Vijay is also planning to commence his statewide tour in August from the Cauvery delta area, targeting the farming community.
Palaniswami has been attacking the DMK government on almost every issue, and his main target has been the law and order. During the recent months, Palaniswami met district secretaries many times to review the preparations for the Assembly elections and strengthening of the party’s IT wing. Significantly, during the past few months, the AIADMK has been staging agitations on people’s issues in various parts of the state.
Meanwhile, Palaniswami also announced key appointments in the party apparatus. On Friday, Palaniswami appointed former MP T G Venkateshbabu as one of the organising secretaries. Purasai V S Babu, former MLA, has been made the North Chennai North (West) district’s secretary. Babu replaces Venkatesh Babu. In Kanniyakumari district, R Jeyasudharshan has been made Kanniyakumari West district secretary, while D John Thangam has been made organising secretary.
Madras HC seeks ECI’s reply on AIADMK plea
Chennai: The Madras High Court on Friday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to submit its reply by a week on the petition filed by AIADMK praying for directions to the poll body to take an expeditious decision on the issue of its (ECI) jurisdiction to enquire about the representations submitted by two former MPs and others for freezing the Two Leaves symbol until the internal dispute cases are decided by the civil courts. A division bench of Justices R Subramaniam and K Surendar issued the direction and adjourned the hearing to July 4. Senior counsel Vijay Narayan, appearing for the AIADMK, submitted that about eight weeks have passed by since the high court issued orders to the ECI to decide (within two weeks) on its jurisdiction, but no decision has been taken so far. Prolongation of the matter by the ECI would give an opportunity to the anti-party elements to utilise the situation against the party, he said, adding that the issue would cause inconvenience to the party since it has to prepare for the 2026 polls. ENS