CHENNAI: The ruling DMK, which won 133 constituencies in 2021 elections and came to power as the single-largest party, has faced a rout this time with 17 incumbent ministers, including party president and CM M K Stalin, losing in their own constituencies.
Stalin had begun the campaign with the confidence of winning a second term with more than 200 seats and forming a Dravidian Model 2.0 government. Instead, the party has finished second with just 59 seats on its own. With Stalin losing, his son and party’s youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin – who retained his Chepauk-Triplicane seat – is now likely to lead the DMK alliance. But the question that lingers is: what went wrong for a party so confident of a second mandate?
Political analysts in the state say that there was neither an anti-incumbency wave nor a Vijay wave, but a fatigue over the Dravidian duopoly and an undercurrent against the complacency and self-patting of the DMK. Arun Kumar, assistant professor of political science at a private university, told TNIE that the numbers do not indicate a wave, but it shows that there was fatigue over the two Dravidian parties – DMK and AIADMK.
“The two parties have ruled the state for more than 50 years and that fatigue is real. If there was an anti-incumbency wave or Vijay wave, the TVK would have swept the state and the DMK would have been pushed to third place. Since neither of them has happened, one of the factors that the DMK failed to gauge was the fatigue over the Dravidian majors,” Arun Kumar said.
He also pointed out that the DMK had failed to address the recurring issues against the party including law & order, safety of women, drug menace and caste atrocities in the state. “Since these were the common allegations against the DMK whenever they came to power, the party seemed to have taken them lightly, which has now cost them dearly, pushing them to the opposition by a new entrant,” Arun Kumar said.
On the larger political dynamic, speaking to TNIE, writer R Kannan invoked the state’s history of hero worship.
“Rajaji, Kamarajar, Anna, Kalaignar, MGR, Jayalalithaa — the state has always rallied behind a singular figure. When that void emerged, Stalin could not fill it. Until 2026, people voted for the DMK by default. When actor Vijayakanth tried to be that alternative, it didn’t take off. Voters chose Vijay despite his front offering nothing concrete,” he said.
Kannan also pointed to the complacency factor. “DMK’s constant self-congratulations over the Dravidian model proved its undoing. The party spent five years comparing itself favourably with others while governance on the ground suffered. The alliance, too, failed to deliver – it was held together by opportunism,” Kannan said.
The 17 minister candidates who failed to retain their seats include MK Stalin
(Kolathur), Duraimurugan (Katpadi), S Muthusamy (Erode West), T M Anbarasan (Alandur), M P Saminathan (Kangayam), P Geetha Jeevan (Thoothukudi), R Rajendran (Salem North), R Sakkarapani (Oddanchatram), R Gandhi (Ranipet), Ma Subramanian (Saidapet), P Moorthy (Madurai East), Palanivel Thiaga Rajan (Madurai Central), S M Nasar (Avadi), School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi (Thiruverumbur), Industries Minister T R B Rajaa (Mannargudi) and Adi Dravidar Welfare Minister M Mathiventhan (Rasipuram) and Periakaruppan KR (Tiruppattur).
The DMK has not been able to break the jinx of winning two consecutive terms since 1971.
Minister Periakaruppan loses by one vote
After three rounds of verification of invalid votes, minister KR Periakaruppan was declared defeated by TVK candidate R Seenivasa Sethupathy in the Tiruppattur constituency in Sivaganga by a margin of just one vote. Sethupathy secured 83,365 votes, one more than Periakaruppan.
