Chennai, 15 December (H.S.) : K Selvaperunthagai, President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC), stated on Sunday that the recent significant victory of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in the Kerala local body elections has set the tone for the upcoming Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu and boosted the confidence of the India bloc ahead of the two thousand twenty-six elections.

In a statement, Selvaperunthagai noted that the UDF secured a massive mandate by winning four Municipal Corporations, fifty-four Municipalities, seven District Panchayats, seventy-seven Block Panchayats, and four hundred ninety-eight Village Panchayats. He described these results as a clear setback for Kerala's ruling coalition and a political precursor to the Assembly elections scheduled in three months.

Comparing the situation to Tamil Nadu, the TNCC chief asserted that Kerala's verdict strengthens the India bloc's prospects of returning to power in the two thousand twenty-six Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. He recalled that in the two thousand twenty-one Assembly polls, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led Secular Progressive Alliance, including the Congress, formed the government by securing two crore nine lakh votes with a forty-one percent vote share.

Selvaperunthagai emphasized that Tamil Nadu's welfare schemes currently benefit one crore eighty-six lakh people every month, and Chief Minister M. K. Stalin has set a goal of securing two crore fifty lakh votes in the next elections. He also cited Reserve Bank of India (RBI) figures, highlighting that Tamil Nadu is a leading contributor to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with a Gross State Domestic Product of twenty-one lakh crore rupees and a per capita income of three lakh sixty-one thousand rupees.

Referring to the disarray in the opposition, he noted that no party other than the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has joined the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)-led alliance so far, while the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and the AIADMK face internal conflicts. Against this backdrop, he expressed strong confidence that the India bloc would achieve a decisive victory in Tamil Nadu in two thousand twenty-six.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Dr. R. B. Chaudhary