CHENNAI: Though not officially announced yet, the DMK leadership has so far appointed eight regional in-charges to oversee election-related activities across designated districts. Their responsibilities include coordinating election preparatory works, addressing internal disputes, and assessing local ground realities.
The party’s district units have been grouped into eight regions, each entrusted to senior leaders with significant influence.
Former Union minister and the party’s deputy general secretary, A Raja, has been assigned to oversee the Chennai region. The deep southern districts have been split into two separate regions, with deputy general secretary and MP Kanimozhi and Minister Thangam Thennarasu appointed as in-charge for each.
Minister R Sakkarapani is handling a region that includes Madurai, Dindigul, Theni, while former minister V Senthil Balaji is in-charge of the Coimbatore region. The entire delta and central districts have been placed under the charge of the party’s principal secretary and Minister K N Nehru.
Likewise, senior ministers E V Velu and M R K Panneerselvam have been appointed as in-charge of regions comprising the northern districts.
However, sources indicate that the exact composition of each region and its respective districts will remain uncertain until the final announcement, which is expected on or before the party’s general council meeting in Madurai on June 1.
With DMK president and Chief Minister M K Stalin ambitiously targeting to secure 200 seats for the alliance in the 2026 Assembly elections and retain power for a second consecutive term, the party has already devised its strategies and begun implementing them. As Stalin previously stated, the detailed election work plan will be unveiled at the party’s general council meeting.
The regional in-charges have already begun holding consultative meetings in their respective districts and conducting one-on-one discussions with local party functionaries.
They are taking note of internal disputes involving local functionaries, ministers, district secretaries, and MLAs, and are attempting to resolve these issues at their level.
Sources said the more serious or unresolved matters are being escalated to the party’s five-member committee, which includes Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin.
The in-charges and party functionaries from various districts held meetings with the five-member committee at the DMK headquarters in two sessions, morning and evening, on Tuesday. Sources said the discussions focused on some of the districts overseen by Thangam Thennarasu and K N Nehru. These meetings are expected to continue in the coming days.
Party sources further noted that the meetings serve two key purposes.
First, they help address internal conflicts well ahead of the election works and second, they provide Udhayanidhi, the party’s youth wing secretary, with experience in understanding and resolving union and district-level issues within the party.